CRABS - In general, you can tell the difference between
boy crabs and girl crabs by looking at the shape of the plate on the
abdomen. Boys have a thinner more pointy plate, girls have a wider more
rounded plate because it is used to hold the egg mass. The mothers carry
the eggs because not many predators will mess with them to get to the
eggs.
- Blue Crabs are found in the Chesapeake Bay. They are very
agressive, like to pinch, but are good to eat. They have a pointy-ended
shell and swim fins. (you can kind of see the swim fins on the last leg
of the crabs on the right)
- Spider Crabs have a rounder body shape, often a bumpy shell that
will grow algae for camouflage, and longer more spindly legs. Spider
Crabs include snow crabs and king crabs like the ones seen on Deadliest
Catch. A decorator crab is a kind of spider crab that attaches stuff to
its bumpy shell to blend in.
- Fiddler Crab males have one claw that is a lot bigger than the
other. This is for impressing the ladies, and used to show dominance
over other males.
- Hermit Crabs have a weak exoskeleton and thus protect it with a
stolen mollusc shell. They have adapted to this lifestyle and have
modified back legs that hook on the inside to hold the shell on and one
claw that is slightly larger to use as an operculum.
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