Blue crab

Callinectes sapidus
#nm_0108📍 International
Language
English
Transliteration
Blue crab

Compound: blue + crab blue: sapphire-blue coloring on claws, crab: from Old English crabba

Swimming crab (Portunidae) native to the western Atlantic from Cape Cod to Argentina. Distinctive blue coloration, carapace up to 23cm wide. Invasive in the Mediterranean, where it threatens native mollusk populations.

Sex variants: jimmy (male), sook (female)she-crab (female)