Blue Crab / Soft Shell Crab

Blue Crabs have a range from Nova Scotia, throughout the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean, but are most well known in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Male crabs are referred to as “Jimmy,” and can be identified by a marking on their underside that resembles the Washington Monument. “She Crabs” are immature females, and can be identified by a triangular marking on their undersides. Mature females are referred to as “sook” and have a marking on their stomach that looks like the nations capital. Sponge Crabs are pregnant females, that tote an egg sack that looks like a sponge on their undercarriage, but I’ll leave the sex part until last, so you read this whole thing.

 

Crabs are scavengers, and will eat just about anything.

 

I’m sure you’ve heard of soft shell crabs. These are not a species of crab, rather a blue crab going through a change. Unlike you and I (unless you are a crustacean), who have skeletons inside our bodies, shellfish have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies. As they grow, they must shed their old skeletons, and grow new larger ones. These new skeletons kind of work like when you were a kid, and your mom would take you down to JC Penny’s at the beginning of school, and buy you pants that you had to roll up about a half a dozen times, but by the end of the school year, they looked like Capri pants. Well, when crustaceans molt, their shells work about the same way. During a male’s lifetime, he will molt about 18-20 times. Right after they shed their shell (which they eat to make the new one harder), they only have a leathery skin that protects them. After about a week, the shell is hard again, but during this time, they are “Soft Shell Crabs.”

 

Now for the sex part that I promised. It all begins one romantic day when the female urinates into the water. The urine, laced with Pheromones is intoxicating to male crabs, and she quickly finds a mate, who cradles her, until the time that she molts. After she molts, they mate, and she stores, but does not fertilize the eggs. The male takes care of the female until the molting is finished, and she is no longer vulnerable. She then leaves the safety of the estuary where they met, and heads out closer to the sea, where the water has a higher concentration of salt. After a period of anywhere from 2-9 months following mating, she finally releases the sperm, and fertilizes the eggs. The eggs are extruded in a sack attached to her belly. This sack called a “sponge” contains more than 2 million eggs. She carries the eggs until they hatch. Although there are exceptions to every rule, the majority of female crabs only mate one time during their lifetime, and generally stay in the same area once they give birth.

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