Many masses regard crabmeat as one of the tastiest type of seafood you may select from . There are many types of edible crabs that have white , angelic , scrumptious meat when cook . There are giant C. P. Snow crabs or king crabs with their foresightful spiky legs and chela that moderate most of the crabby person ’s substance . There are also Dungeness crabs and blue crab where most of the succulent C - ashen inwardness is in the body .
Crabs are a type of crustacean that belong to the orderBrachyura . There are thousands of different character of crabs that are divided into over 850 species . Most diverseness of crab have hard prohibited shell ( called an exoskeleton ) , 3 walking leg on either side of their body , and 2 filch claws .
unlike type of crabs inhabit cold saltwater regions , quick sea domain , bodies of refreshing water , and they also know on the land . For example , snow crabs inhabit in the cold water around Alaska , Greenland , Siberia , and Japan . However , the Florida Harlan Fisk Stone crab is found in lovesome ocean in the Gulf of Mexico , on the coast of Florida , and in salinity marshland in some US states .
Types of Crabs (With Pictures and Names)
Let ’s look in more detail at some of the most popular type of crabs that you’re able to eat . At the death of the article , you will also check about a few crab species and unlike types of Crab that are rarely consumed .
King Crab
Red King crab louse is a popular type of comestible Alaskan Cancer the Crab
King crabs are one of the most common and best types of eatable crab due to their orotund size and delicate taste . In fact , specie of king crabs are among some of the largest type of crabs on the planet .
From the many species of top executive crab , Red King crab ( genus Paralithodes camtschaticus ) is a popular character of Alaskan Phthirius pubis .
When it comes to large Crab , the Red King crab is sure one of the big crabs in the world . The bodies of these super - sized crustaceans can measure up to 11 ” ( 28 cm ) across and consider up to 28 lbs ( nearly 13 kilogram ) . Much of the delicious white gist is receive in the leg of the Red King crab that can have a span of near 5 ft . ( 1.8 m ) !
Red King crabs are in the main caught in cold North Pacific seas around Alaska , such as the Bering Sea and Norton Sound .
When caught in the wild , Red King Cancer have calorie-free brown jaggy body . This becomes a deep red color when cooked . This also gives a pinkish tinge to the edge of the savoury Alaskan crab heart that you extract from the claw and leg .
Another case of huge Alaskan king crab is the Blue King Crab ( Paralithodes platypus ) . This is not as big as the Red King crab , but can still weigh up to 18 lbs ( 8.2 kg ) .
Snow Crab (Rock Crabs)
C crab ( rock ‘n’ roll crab ) are a eccentric of eatable Alaskan crab
Snow crabs ( Chionoecetes opilio ) are also call rock and roll Cancer and are a eccentric of Alaskan crab with retentive legs . This mintage of Cancer the Crab is also found in the cold seas around Alaska and in the North Atlantic Ocean .
The body of this drear - browned dark crab can develop up to 7 ” ( 17 cm ) across . This type of crab is usually eaten for its tasty white meat in the legs and claws . Unlike some other kinds of edible crabs , you’re able to easily break start the leg to get to the heart and soul .
Blue Crab
Blue crabmeat is a popular type of edible crab
As its name intimate , the Blue crab louse ( Callinectes sapidus ) has blue colour shell and legs when caught in the wild . These large - sized crabs are found in the water around the East Coast of the US , the Gulf of Mexico , Japan , and Europe .
Blue crabs are a type of swimming crab louse that have 2 boat paddle - like foot to aid it swim . In fact , its scientific name literally means ‘ beautiful savory swimmer . ’ These swim crabs can grow to about 9 ” ( 23 centimetre ) in width ( excluding the length of the legs ) .
aside from the blue color of its shell , one of the identify lineament of this democratic crab variety is the chassis of its torso ( carapace ) . Rather than a round type of carapace , the side of a Blue crab louse ’s soundbox bulge to a point .
Cooking a Blue crab causes the shell to turn a distinct deep crimson color coarse to most cooked crustaceans . The meat from cooked Blue crabs is described as piquant - gratifying . There is commonly plenty of meat in the body as well as the legs and hook .
dreary crabs are also a democratic eccentric of crab to serve well as a easy - blast crabby person . This is when a crab louse has just exuviate its out racing shell ( exoskeleton ) and the new one has n’t hardened yet . unremarkably , gentle - shell Crab are consumed whole sautéed or deep - fried .
Dungeness Crab
The Dungeness crab is a comparatively large type of ocean crab
Another popular large variety of crab is the Dungeness crab ( Cancer magister ) which is brown to purple in color and has a hard shell .
These crabs usually grow to 8 ” ( 20 atomic number 96 ) in width , with the body and inwardness being a good source of meat . A single crab can weigh up to 4 lbs ( 1.8 kilogram ) and up to one - quarter of its weighting is tasty Cancer the Crab essence .
Dungeness crab is one of the best crabs to eat . One of the reasons Dungeness crabs are so popular is due to their sweet - taste meat . The taste of this variety of Phthirius pubis is described as moist and attendant with salty hints of the ocean .
Cooked Dungeness Crab take on a light pink to red people of colour . Because the shell of Dungeness crabs is especially hard , crab cracker and peewee ramification are unremarkably provide to extract the pinky - bloodless sweet-flavored nub .
Florida Stone Crab
The Florida Stone crab has big claws with sweet and lush sports meeting
The Florida Stone crab ( Menippe mercenaria ) is another popular type of nautical crab that is prized for its delectable delicately - flavor center . These crabs are found in the warm urine in Central America and the East Coast of the US .
One of the discover features of the Florida Stone crab is its large pincers on the front of its body . These brownish - red coloured claws ( chelae ) with dark tips are the same colour as its grueling forbidden shell . The crabby person ’s carapace usually quantify up to 6.5 ” ( 17 atomic number 96 ) wide , name this a medium to large - sized Phthirius pubis .
Rather than catch and cook the whole Cancer , when these crab louse are caught , one claw is pull off . The Cancer the Crab are then yield to the ocean where they will originate a unexampled claw within 18 months .
With the Florida Stone crabby person , it is only the meat from the orotund claws that is wipe out . When falsify , its claw are a light pink to red colouration with black tips . The centre extracted from the claw is one of the best to eat – it is sweet and succulent with a stiff texture . Due to the hardness of the claws , you postulate a mallet or crab banger to get to the meat .
Peekytoe Crab
The Peekytoe crab louse ( Atlantic rock candy crab ) is a character of cold ocean crab
The Peekytoe crab louse ( Crab irroratus ) is a brown rock crab species that thrives in stale piss in the Atlantic Ocean . This character of crab is identify by its brown color and purplish spots on its hard plate .
Compared to the size of it of other pop type of edible crab , the Peekytoe Cancer the Crab is a intermediate - sized crab . Its cuticle can grow up to 5.25 ” ( 13 atomic number 96 ) in diameter . It has smaller chelae than other pop crabs , such as the Florida Stone crab .
The pop name of this Phthirius pubis was coined in Maine . Another name for this seafood delicacy is the Atlantic rock crab .
Japanese Spider Crab
The Nipponese Spider is a type of large crab with long legs
The Nipponese Spider crab ( Macrocheira kaempferi ) is a scary - looking type of Cancer that transcend the tilt of crabs with retentive leg . This is surely a giant among all the change of edible crabs .
So , just how big is the Nipponese spider crab louse ? It has a large physical structure which can valuate up to 16 ” ( 40 centimeter ) in width . The leg duad can attain a massive 18 ft . ( 5.5 m ) in length . The enormous moth-eaten - water supply pubic louse can weigh up to 42 lb ( 19 kg ) !
Despite this big crab having a ferocious look of something out of a Sci - Fi moving picture , it is not an aggressive species .
Rather than being something to fear , the kernel of a Nipponese spider crab is a delicious delicacy . When it comes to try out , the spider crabby person has a sweeter taste than brown varieties of crab . Of naturally , the length of the long lank legs means that it may take a routine of employment to get all of the tasty outlandish white-hot meat out .
Horsehair Crab
The Horsehair crab is a type of modest to medium - sized eatable crab louse
The Horsehair crabmeat ( Erimacrus isenbeckii ) is a pop crab diverseness in Nipponese cuisine . These compact dark-brown - orange crab have a jumpy shell with orange or lightly - color dot on it . It is also called the ‘ haired crab ’ due to the spiky hair on its body .
Horsehair Crab are broadly found in the waters around Alaska and Northern Japan . This is a small to medium - sized crab . It is generally boiled in salt water to cook it . This crab variety is esteem for the amount of meat in its body . The taste of Horsehair crabmeat meat is account as sweet and delicate and is consider as one of the best tasting Cancer .
Southern European Crab
The Southern European crab is a type of minuscule comestible fresh water pubic louse
One type of edible fresh water crabmeat is the Southern European Cancer ( Potamon fluviatile ) . This is a type of green crab that is in general find in river and flow in Italy , Greece and the Balkans .
Compared to varieties of seawater crabs , the Southern European crab is tiny in comparison . An adult dark-green crab louse may only average about 2 ” ( 5 curium ) and they have been a popular solid food seed for hundreds of years .
European green Crab have now become an invasive species in North America . you could boil them in a similar way to downcast crab and they have a fertile scented taste .
Brown (Edible) Crab
The Brown crab is one of the most popular diverseness of edible sea crab in the UK
The Brown crab ( Cancer the Crab pagurus ) is an edible crab with a cherry-red - browned shield , legs , and claw . Similar to the Florida Stone Cancer , the claws of this saltwater crab have black tips . The chocolate-brown crab is one of the most popular mixed bag of crab in the United Kingdom .
This is a intermediate - sized Cancer miscellany with the cuticle being between 6 ” and 9 ” ( 15 – 22 cm ) wide . An adult brownish crab can weigh up to 6.6 lbs ( 3 kg ) with about one - third of its weight being meat .
chocolate-brown crabby person have an oval eubstance with edge that look like a pie insolence . The chocolate-brown shield turns a lighter shade of brownness when cook . The perceptiveness and flavour of the sweet crab meat calculate on the sex of the crustacean . The meat of the female crab is a chocolate-brown case of crab nub that has a fat flavor . The kernel from male chocolate-brown crab is whiter and has a sweeter flavor .
Coconut Crab
Coconut crabs vary in size of it and coloring
Although seldom on the menu , Coconut crabs ( Birgus latro ) are an edible type of Edwin Herbert Land - dwelling crabby person . coconut meat crabs inhabit islands in the Native American and Pacific ocean .
Their behavior has also take in them various name . For example , the name ‘ coconut crab ’ is because of their ability to climb up palms , piece coconuts , and then afford them on the ground . They are also ring ‘ robber crabs ’ or ‘ decoration stealer ’ as they are speculative creatures that will steal anything comestible they can find .
Many mass say that coconut crabs taste like a cross between a Phthirius pubis and a lobster . They have sweet lily-white meat that has an oilier texture than steady Cancer the Crab meat . If you happen to eat a coconut crab while chat a Pacific Island , you may also find that they have a slim taste of Cocos nucifera .
Hermit Crab
Hermit Cancer is a case of small crab that does n’t develop its own hard shell
Hermit crabs make up a mathematical group of crabs in thePaguroideasuperfamily and can include marine crabs and realm hermit Cancer .
Hermit crabs are not a genuine mintage of crab as they do n’t belong to theBrachyurainfraorder . These ‘ Phthirius pubis ’ are more intimately related to to squatty lobster .
One of the unique features of this crab - like species is that they do n’t develop their own hard exoskeleton . For protective covering from predators , hermit crabs need to find empty carapace that they will ‘ go ’ in . Their cushy curved bodies can retract into hard shield leave behind by various type of snails . As hermit crab grow , they have to dispose their shell and face for larger ones .
you could eat up hermit crabmeat ; however , they are in general quite small and not deserving the pain in the ass . really , the coconut Phthirius pubis is a case of hermit Cancer the Crab . But unlike most hermit crabs , coconut crabs modernize a hard , calcified shell for protection .
Horseshoe Crab
The Horseshoe crab is rarely use up due to its low meat depicted object
The Horseshoe crab is a type of arthropod and , despite their name , are not a true kind of crabmeat . Horseshoe pubic louse are from theLimulidaefamily and live in shallow coastal H2O of the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans . Although this is an eatable type of pubic louse , it is seldom eat because of its abject meat content .
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