Lesser Blue Crab
Callinectes similis
Description 2
The blue crab Callinectes similis is a decapod crustacean in the Portunidae family. It is a strong and agile swimmer powered by a pair of flat, oar shaped rear legs called swimmerets giving it freedom of motion to rapidly swim backwards, sideways, and sometimes forward (Barnes 1980). It is an offshore congener in the genus of Callinectes. The lesser blue crab has a smoother, more uniform granulated carapace when compared to C. ornatus and C. sapidus (Williams 1984). Adult males have a green carapace with irregular areas of iridescence at the base of the teeth. The swimming legs are mottled with white. The females are similar in color except that the inner surfaces of the chelae are more violet blue. The juveniles are not as brilliantly colored appearing olive-yellow to greenish. The length and curvature of the reproductive organs (gonopods) are distinctive in mature males for each of the Callinectes species (Gore 1977, Barnes 1980) See illustrations from Williams (1974) below.
Distribution 3
off Delaware Bay to Key West, Fla., northwestern Florida around Gulf of Mexico to off Campeche, Yucatan; also Isla de Providencia, Colombia; reported from northern Jamaica.
Size 4
The Callinectes similis male grows to a maximum width of 122 mm and the female grows to a maximum width of 95 mm. A study of populations in Mobile Bay in the Mississippi Sound reported a larger female to male ratio (Hsueh et al. 1993).
Look alikes 5
It can be difficult to distinguish the juveniles, immature males, and adult females of C. ornatus from C. danae and C. similis (Williams 1984). C. ornatus is very similar to C. similis and the two were confused until the 1960's (Gore 1977).C. similis can be distinguished from C. ornatus by the pale translucent blue dactyls of the swimming legs and the propodi that are olive on the ends and banded with translucent blue mesially.
Reproduction 6
Callinectes similis has spring and fall spawning seasons (Williams 1984). The egg carrying females migrate to nearshore waters with higher salinities to release their larvae (Hsueh et al. 1993).
Link to Access Genomic Data 7
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=53942&lvl=0
Sources and Credits
- (c) matbio, all rights reserved
- (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11527179
- (c) WoRMS for SMEBD, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/28470524
- (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11527185
- (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11527182
- Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11527184
- (c) Emily Rose Sharkey, all rights reserved
