Blue Swimmer Crab

 

Animal Unique | Blue Swimmer Crab |  Blue swimmer crab is also known as the flower crab, blue crab, blue manna crab or sand crab. It is a large crab found in the tidal estuaries of the Indian and Pacific Oceans (Asian coasts) and the Middle East coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The name "flower crab" is used in East Asian countries, while the last names are used in Australia. Blue swimmer crabs are widely distributed in East Africa, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. An estuarine crab, Blue swimmer crab sideways can run fast on the sandy bottom, or swim away quickly with the flat oar-like paddles on their last legs run. These belts are also efficient kick, allowing the crab quickly shuffle back into sand, leaving only the eyes and antennae are displayed.

Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Arthropoda
Subphylum:     Crustacea
Class:     Malacostraca
Order:     Decapoda
Infraorder:     Brachyura
Family:     Portunidae
Genus:     Portunus
Species:     P. pelagicus

The Blue swimmer crab, as its name suggests, a swimming crab. Blue swimmer crabs are generally characterized by the fact that their last pair of legs are modified as swimming paddles. Blue swimmer crab are active swimmers but when inactive, it buried in the sediment, leaving only their eyes, antennae and gill chamber opening exposed. The males are bright blue in color with white spots and with a characteristic long chelipeds, while the females are a duller green / brown, with a more rounded shield.

Blue swimmer crab are large and beautifully colored. The shield is very broad, about twice as wide as long, covered with large granules. In adult males, the large chelipeds are three times as long as the shield. The color of the crab is mainly blue with paler spots on the top. The surface is bright white. Blue swimmer crabs are not coast, but visit shallow waters hunting for prey, such as prawns, or Semaphore and Sentinel Crabs that have not sheltered in their now submerged burrows. Blue swimmer crab are very active, fast and powerful. They catch and eat any creature they can.

Blue swimmer crab remain buried under sand or mud most of the time, especially during the day and in winter. They come out at high tide to feed on various organisms such as bivalves, fish and, to a lesser extent, macroalgae. They are excellent swimmers, largely due to a pair of flattened legs that resemble paddles. However, in contrast to another portunid crab (Scylla serrata), they can not survive for long periods out of the water.

The species is commercially important in the Indo-Pacific, where they can be sold as traditional hard shells, or "soft shelled" crabs, which are considered a delicacy in Asia. The species is highly valued as the meat is almost as sweet as the blue crab. The Blue swimmer crab is caught commercially along the coastal areas of southern Queensland accounts for about half the commercial catch. This crab is also an important part of the catch of many shrimp trawlers. These crabs are supposed to eat well with a delicate, fishy taste and fine texture.

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