

Revolutions per minute, but they quickly disappear into a blur as the animal darts away. Three pairs of thin walking legs propel blue crabs sideways,Īs they clear a path with their sharp lateral spines.īlue crabs swim by sculling the oar-like fifth pair of legs, the swimming legs. The mature female's abdomen becomes rounded and can be easily pulled away from the body after the final molt.īlue crabs have five pairs of legs and can walk as well as swim. Immature female has a triangle shaped abdomen tightly sealed against the body. Males have a T-shaped abdomen held tightly against the underside of the body until maturity when it becomes somewhat free. Males, larger than females, reach seven or eight inches, (sometimes up to ten inches) across the shell from point to point. The mature females, or "sooks," have bright Large males, called Jimmies by fishermen, have brilliant blue claws and legs. The blue crab's scientific name, Callinectes sapidus, translates to "savory beautiful swimmer." Recreational importance in South Carolina. Massachusetts to Texas, and occasionally north to Nova Scotia and south to Uruguay.Ĭhesapeake Bay, North Carolina, and Louisiana support the largest blue crab fisheries.Īlthough other small swimming crabs in this family ( Portunidae) occur locally, only the blue crab has any commercial or Recreational fishermen seek this easy to catchĬrab, which also supports a considerable commercial fishery.īlue crabs require both inshore brackish waters and high salinity ocean waters to complete their life cycle. Gourmets prefer the blue crab's sweet meat over all other locally caught seafood.

You don’t want to leave your crab traps in the water for more than six to eight hours since once the bait is gone the crabs will turn on each other often resulting in one large survivor-crab. How long do you leave a crab trap in the water?
#Blue crab male vs female skin#
It can also cause your skin to change color and become scaly and scarred.

If left untreated you can develop infections from scratching. What happens if pubic lice is left untreated? Pause your sex life until the crabs go away usually about two weeks. How long do crabs STD last?ĭo not spray insecticide on your clothes or other objects in your house. If you do decide to shave do it a long while after you have applied the lotion. The crabs will cling on to you and crawl to other body hair. Shaving your pubic hair whilst it might make you feel better does not get rid of the crabs but does remove their eggs. They are easily identified by their blue claws and inverted t-shaped apron which resembles the Washington Monument. They typically range from 5 ½ – 6 ¼ inches. The #1 Male crab also known as a “Jimmy” are typically the most sought after type of crab. A female blue crab is easy to identify by its large wide tail. Leave them to continue to reproduce and keep your crabbing spots well stocked for future visits. Since keeping a female crab with a visible egg “sponge” is illegal there is no good reason to harvest them. Much myth surrounds the taste differences between the sexes but truth be told other than the fact that the ladies are lighter than the gents experts say there’s no distinction in flavor. In addition many times the male’s color is a more vibrant blue than the female’s and the male lacks red tips on their claws. MALE (JIMMIE): The easiest way to identify a male blue crab is by identifying the apron which is shaped like the Washington Monument. How can you tell a female blue crab from a male?

The color becomes black as the eggs near hatching. When a female crab is carrying eggs the bottom of the crab is a reddish color and has thousands of eggs attached. The female blue crab is called a “Jenny” or “She Crab” by lots of crabbers and her claws have a red tint to them. However to support population growth it is often illegal or at least discouraged to take female crabs in many fisheries. Female crabs are fattier and are preferred for soup. You can tell a male blue crab by its “apron ” the underbelly shell of the crab which is narrow compared to the female’s. In addition live females have red-tipped claws while male claws are blue. Specify gender: Crab gender is easy to distinguish: male crabs (or “jimmies”) have a narrow T-shaped “apron” on the back of their shell while female crabs (“sooks”) have a wide apron.
