The blue crab lives up and down the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico and are caught by both commercial and recreational fishermen.
The blue crabs scientific name—Callinectes sapidus—translated from Latin means 'beautiful savory swimmer. '
Blue crabs are the most valuable fishery in the Chesapeake Bay.
Crabs do have blood.
However the blood that crabs have is different than the blood that humans have.
Crabs are malacostracans and malacostraca are crustaceans.
Malacostraca, plus some of the other insects and molluscs, have blood that uses copper instead of iron to carry the oxygen.
For example horseshoe crab blood is bright blue.
The crabs blood contains important immune cells that are exceptionally sensitive to toxic bacteria.
When those cells meet invading bacteria, they clot around it and protect the rest of the horseshoe crab's body from toxins.
Do crabs feel pain?
Not only do crabs suffer pain, a new study found, but they retain a memory of it (assuming they aren't already dead on your dinner plate).
The scientists say its time for new laws to consider the suffering of all crustaceans.
Horseshoe crab blood is a vital resource to the medical field.
It's unique in more ways than one: the blue color and its ability to identify bacterial contamination in small quantities.
Horseshoe crab blood contains a special amebocyte that is separated and then used in FDA testing.