Blue Crab

The blue crab is a species of crab native to the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, particularly abundant in the Chesapeake Bay, where it has long supported one of the largest and most economically important crab fisheries in the United States. It has a bluish-green shell and distinctive bright blue claws, especially vivid in males, with females identifiable by red-tipped claw pincers, and it lives in estuaries and shallow coastal waters, where it swims using a pair of flattened, paddle-like rear legs in addition to walking along the bottom. Blue crabs are opportunistic omnivores and scavengers, feeding on fish, mollusks, plant matter and detritus, and, like all crabs, they must periodically molt their hard exoskeleton to grow, a vulnerable period during which the newly molted crab, known as a soft-shell crab, is itself considered a culinary delicacy. The species supports a major regional seafood industry along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts, though its populations can fluctuate significantly with water quality, habitat loss and fishing pressure in estuaries such as the Chesapeake Bay.