CULTI VABLE CRABS

The important Cultivable crabs are mud crab , Scylla oceanic, the green crab and
Scyll a trans quiba rica, Portu nus pelag icus and p.san gunio lentu s are common edible crabs
are found more on the east coast of India.
The blue crab, collec ts sapidus is commonl y
found in North America. The other crabs are
also important but have not yet made any
impact on the aquaculture. (Dungenes crab)
C.ir rorat us (rock crab) , C.bor ealis (Jona h
crab) , Menip pe marc enari a (Store crab) and
Mithrax spinosissm us (spider crab). Out of
the above species mud crab or serrated crab,
scylla serrata is most economi cal and
commonl y cult ured in many part s of the
world .

MUD CRAB FISHER Y

Mud crab is common found in the sub tidal and intert idal region s of estu arine and
mangr ove area and creek s of the east and west coast of India . s. serrata prefer to live in low
saline waters , wherea s S.ocea nica lives in high salin e water mud and green crab does not
burro w deep in the mud. The migrate during night time to the mangrov es along the high
tides in search of foods. The ventral side of S.serrat a is red to brick red in colour, the palm of
the chelate leg is also red. The carapace is metallic brown in colour, S.oceanica is white to
grayish white on the ventral side and dorsal side is olive green, the walki ng legs and the
swimm ers bear a self desig n which is not prese nt in S.serra ta 130mm i carapac e width,
weight about 700-1000gr and S.ocean ica grows to size of 250mm in carap ace with the
weigh ts more than 2kg.

Scy lla ser rat a

Femal e crab of S.se rrata has got good deman d in the intern ation al market after
reaching a size of 250gr. The male crab of S.oceanic a grows faster and is in good deman d
fetch ing more than 250/- per kg. Male s.ser rata grows to 700-800gr . The expor t size of the
crab is 500 gr and above in the male and 250 gr and above in the females. They breed almost
through out the year Scylla scrrata grows faster to reach a market able size of 250-400gr in 7-8

Dr.C.V.Narasimha murthy. Associate professor (Contract), VSUPGCenter,Kavali. M.Sc.Zoology, notes-2016

months. The total protein content of the muscle of crab is higher than that of a prawn. Male
crab with larger chelate legs and female with ripe ovaries fetch premi um price in the marke ts.

Dr.C.V.Narasimha murthy. Associate professor (Contract), VSUPGCenter,Kavali. M.Sc.Zoology, notes-2016