Dungeness Crab

Animal Unique | Dungeness Crab | Dungeness Crab or Cancer magister gets its common name of the town of Dungeness, Washington, now called Old Town Dungeness, where the first commercial harvest of crab was done. Dungeness Crab is the only commercially important crab in the state of the territorial waters of Washington and was the first commercially harvested shellfish in the North Pacific Coast. 

Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Arthropoda
Subphylum:     Crustacea
Class:     Malacostraca
Order:     Decapoda
Infraorder:     Brachyura
Family:     Cancridae
Genus:     Metacarcinus
Species:     M. magister

Dungeness crabs have a broad, long, hard shell, which they must periodically molt to grow, a process known as ecdysis. They have five pairs of legs, also armored, the foremost pair of which ends in claws which the crab uses both as defense and tear apart large food items. The crab uses its smaller appendages to pass the food particles in his mouth. Once inside the crab's stomach the food is further digested by the "gastric mill", a collection of tooth-like structures. Dungeness crabs prefers to eat clams, other crustaceans and small fish, but also an effective scavenger. Dungeness Crab can be completely buried in the sand when threatened.

Adult female Dungeness Crab usually moult between May and August, and mating occurs immediately after the female has moulted and before the new exoskeleton hardens. Males are attracted to potential partners by pheromones in the urine of female Dungeness Crab. Upon locating an available female, the male initiates a protective pre-mating embrace that lasts several days. In this embrace, the female is tucked under the man, oriented such that their abdomen to touch their heads together.  

Mating occurs only after the female has molted, and the female signals her readiness to molt by urinating on or near the antennae of the male. The female extrudes the eggs from her body several months later, but they remain attached under her abdomen for three to five months until they hatch. Young crabs are free-swimming after hatching and go through five larval stages before reaching maturity after about ten moults or two years.

Approximately one quarter of the weight of the crab's meat. The meat has what is considered a delicate flavor that is slightly sweet. Dungeness Crabs can typically be bought live or cooked. Larger crabs are valued for the higher meat to shell ratio. Live crabs are cooked simply by steaming for 15-18 minutes, or by boiling in water for about 10 minutes. Two common tools for removing crab meat from the shell, a crab cracker and a shrimp fork. Sometimes, a cleaver, mallet or small hammer is used for cracking. 

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