Georgia Arnold

Mrs. Cook-Science

October 22nd, 2015

Blue Crab

The Blue Crab, or Callenectus sapidus is white and blue, with bright blue claws. Female blue crabs have red tipped claws, so it is easy to tell them apart from males. Male blue crabs are called “Jimmys” and female blue crabs are called “Sooks”. They eat algea, fish, and barnacles. Bigger fish, crabs, birds, and sea otters all prey on the blue crab. It is in the eukaryote domain, animalia kingdom, arthropod phylum, malacostraca class, decapoda order, portunidae family, callenectus genus, and Sapidus species. The blue crab is an ectothermic heteratroph, which means it is cold blooded. The blue crab has bilateral symmetry. A behavioral adaptation of the Blue Crab is that it will go wherever the tide takes it. A functional adaptation of the Blue Crab is that it molts every few weeks. Finally, a structural adaptation of the Blue Crab is that their skeleton is on the outside. Blue Crabs tend to live in brackish lagoons and estuaries usually around Rhode Island.