All about Crabs

Crab is available in fresh, frozen and canned forms year-round. Take a look at deeper look at crabs and learn to distinguish females from males, a Dungeness from a blue, and why some of those shells are soft.

Crab history
Crabs are of the order Decapoda and cover a large variety of different crustaceans.

The word crab comes from the Middle English. Of course, the crab is one of the oldest species on earth. The horseshoe crab dates back over 200 million years and is literally a living fossil. Most people are aware of the zodiac sign of Cancer, named for the constellation which resembles the shape of a crab.

The majority of edible crabs have five pairs of legs, with the front legs being larger pinchers. Out of the 4,400 varieties of crab, most are found in North America in both salt and fresh water. Second only to shrimp in shellfish popularity, the world is fiercely proud of the recipes which spotlight the type of crab most-prized in their region.

Male Crab

Look at the underside of the crab. The male has a distinctive, elongated spire in the center

Female Crab

Female has a broad, triangular-shaped area in the center of the shell

Backfin

Lump

Jumbo

Soft-Shell

Crab Cake

Meat from the breast of the blue crab.

Backfin

Whole pieces of white meat from the body of the crab.

Lump

Lump or Jumbo Lump The largest pieces, or nuggets, of white body meat from the swimming leg body (backfin) chambers. Contains virtually no shell pieces. The most expensive form of crabmeat and is the choice of most gourmet cooks.

Soft-shell A blue crab that has shed its shell, before it has grown a new shell. The crab periodically sheds its shell to grow a larger one. Soft-shell crabs are in their prime from April to September. They are normally cooked whole and have no waste. Crab which has shed its shell. Less than 12 hours after molting. A delicacy in which the entire crab, paper-thin shell and all, is eaten. Soft crab season is marked by the first full moon in May and continues through early fall.

Crab Cake A mixture of crab, spices and binders flattened into patties and fried, originating in Maryland.

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