It is found further offshore than the common blue crab, and has a smoother granulated carapace. sapidus because of overlapping ranges and similar morphology.

Other species of Callinectes may be easily confused with C. A female's abdomen changes as it matures: an immature female has a triangular-shaped abdomen, whereas a mature female's is rounded. The immovable, fixed finger of the claws in males is blue with red tips, while females have orange coloration with purple tips. Claw color differences are more subtle than apron shape. A popular mnemonic is that the male's apron is shaped like the Washington Monument, while the mature female's resembles the dome of the United States Capitol. The abdomen is long and slender in males, but wide and rounded in mature females. Males and females are easily distinguished by the shape of the abdomen (known as the 'apron') and by color differences in the chelipeds, or claws. C. sapidus individuals exhibit sexual dimorphism. Blue crabs may grow to a carapace width of 23 cm (9 in). The genus Callinectes is distinguished from other portunid crabs by the lack of an internal cartilaginous spine on the carpus (the middle segment of the claw), as well as by the T-shape of the male abdomen. sapidus is a decapod crab of the swimming crab family Portunidae. Males (or 'jimmies') have a narrow abdomen, resembling the Washington Monument. Whether this will have negative effects on the surrounding ecosystems from an increased crab population is still unclear.

Unlike other fisheries affected by climate change, blue crab is expected to do well warming causes better breeding conditions, more survivable winters, and a greater range of habitable areas in the Atlantic coast. Due to overfishing and environmental pressures some of the fisheries have seen declining yields, especially in the Chesapeake Bay fishery. It is the Maryland state crustacean and the state's largest commercial fishery. sapidus is of considerable culinary and economic importance in the United States, particularly in Louisiana, the Carolinas, the Chesapeake Bay, Delaware, and New Jersey. Blue Crab escaping from the net at Core Banks, North Carolina.Ĭallinectes sapidus (from the Ancient Greek κάλλος,'beautiful' + nectes, 'swimmer', and Latin sapidus, 'savory'), the blue crab, Atlantic blue crab, or regionally as the Chesapeake blue crab, is a species of crab native to the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and introduced internationally.Ĭ.

Maryland blue crab