Blue Crab Profile

Blue Crab

1. Although widely distributed, they are mong the most heavily harvested creatures on the planet
2. Important as prey and predator in their ecosystem; food for herons, sea turtles and many bird species and prey on clams, oysters, mussels, snails and a wide variety of vegetable and animal matter
3. Are very sensitive to environmental and habitat changes, and many populations, in the Chesapeake Bay for example, have declined; harmed by low oxygen caused by pollutants
4. Females mate only once in their lives, and spawn where oil was most concentrated – the coastal beaches and near-shore Gulf; additionally, after spawn the crab is most vulnerable to pollutants as it grows from egg to juvenile