Blue Crab

Grace Richards

Mrs. Cook Science

October 26, 2015

Blue Crab

Callinectes sapidus

              The Blue Crabs can be found in shallow waters and bay grass beds of the Western Atlantic Ocean. They are in the Domain Eukaryote, the Kingdom Animalia, the Phylum Arthropoda, the Class Crustacea, and the Order Decopoda. They are in the Family Portunidae, the Genus Callinectes, and the Species sapidus. Blue Crabs have bilateral symmetry, and common characteristics are their blue or green carapace (outer shell), bright blue claws, three walking legs, and two swimming legs. One of their functional adaptations is that Blue Crabs hibernate in deep underwater trenches in the winter. A behavioral adaptations is that they use their strong claws to capture and eat prey. One of their structural adaptations is their strong tapered abdomen to help them reproduce and to protect them from predators. Blue Crabs eat clams, mussels, fish, and even smaller crabs. Their predators include large fish, some sea birds, and sea turtles. Blue Crabs are heterotrophic (they eat other heterotrophs or autotrophs) and are ectothermic (cold blooded). One interesting fact about Blue Crabs is that their name, Callinectes sapidus, means “beautiful savory swimmer”.

Sources: www.chesapeakebay.net, www.eol.org