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Blue Crab
Blue Crabs are found along the American Atlantic seaboard, especially around the Carolinas. They mate in the coastal marshes and swamps. A male Blue Crab will reach its maturity within a year, and be about 8 inches (20 cm) across.
Male Blue Crabs are called "Jimmys"; they have on their abdomens what looks like a picture of the Washington Monument. Female Blue Crabs are called "sooks". They have red claws (males have plain claws), and what looks like a picture of the Washington Capitol dome on their abdomens. Males are usually preferred for eating because they grow larger, and crab catchers tend to prefer to leave females in the water to spawn more crabs. Females need to mate only once in their lives: they store a male crab's sperm inside them and use it over and over again throughout their life span to reproduce.
Soft Shell Crab
When the crab sheds its shell for a new one, it becomes a "soft shell crab" for 6 to 8 hours, until it grows the new shell. All types of crabs shed their shells, but the Blue Crab is one of the few that is eaten at this stage, and the only one sold commercially in soft shell form. Crabbers catch crabs, and examine them, looking for a thin line along the crabs back fin. Crabs with this marking are going to shed soon. They are placed into holding tanks: one tank for those with white lines, who will shed in just over a week, and those with pink lines, who are going to shed their shells in the next day or two. These are called "peelers". If the line is red, the crab is going to bust out of its shell any time now. These are called "busters". As soon as the crab has shed, it is hustled off to market as a soft-shell crab, which commands a higher price than a hard-shell crab.
Also called:  Blue Claw Crab Crabes mous en mue (French) Butterkrebse (German) Moleche (Italian) Cangrejos blandos en muda (Spanish)
Other entries for Crabs
Blue Crab, Crabs
Other entries for Crustaceans
Cigales de Mer, Lobster, Sea Urchin, Shrimp
Other entries for Shellfish
Mollusks, Whelks
Other entries for Seafood
Octopus, Squid
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