Blue Crab paragraph and photo off of the Learning commons!

Blue crab

The scientific name of the blue crab is Callinectes sapidus. They live in estuaries of Nora Scotia, Gulf of Mexico, and Uruguay. The domain is eukaryote, the kingdom is animalia, the phylum is arthropoda, and the class is crustacea. The order is decapada, the family is portunidae, the genus is Callinectes, and the species is sapidus. The blue crab has bilateral symmetry meaning that it can be divided once right down the middle. The crab is 9 inches long and it’s blue and olive green with bright blue claws. Crabs have claws which is a structural adaptation. These claws help crabs catch prey and defend themselves. Another structural adaptation of a crab is, they have a carapace as a main part of their body. This hard shell protects the crabs internal organs and also helps them with attacks from predators. The last adaptation is a behavioral adaptation. To start the process of molting, crabs hide away from predators where they can then stop eating which causes them to absorb water and swell. The shell slowly splits across the back allowing the crab to back out of it which is then discarded. Next, the crab pumps water into tissues to inflate the shell to its new size. The new shell will be about one third larger than the new shell and the new shell will reach its full size six hours after molting.

An interesting fact about the blue crab is that its scientific name comes from the greek words “beautiful” and “swimmer.” The predators of the blue crab are fish like croakers and red drum. Also bird eating fish and humans. The prey of blue crabs are clams,oysters, mussels, and small crustaceans. Blue crabs are heterotrophic and they are ectothermic which means that their body temperature depends on the temperature of their environment. Two sources that I used for research are Blue Crab - Chesapeake Bay Program and Blue Crab - National Geographic. By Hannah Pierce