The necora puber
or the swimming crab is a fast moving crab.
It has stalked red eyes and grows to about 8
cms. It has a fine velvetish texture. It is
mostly found in the UK and Irish coasts, residing
in the shallow waters of the stony and rocky
shores. The swimming crab is caught in creels
and the number varies from season to season.
The west coast of Scotland has a lot of these
swimming crabs. It also has a great commercial
value.
Swimming crabs
are agile swimmers and usually swim sideways.
They also swim backwards and sometimes forward.
The paddle shaped fifth pair of legs which rotates
like propellers are used for swimming. They
have long pinchers to catch fast moving prey.
Their streamlined body allows them to race through
water.
Swimming crab,
if disturbed, pinch with their pincers to draw
blood. Their food consists of fish, worms, other
crabs, clams and snails. Sometimes they nibble
seaweed. Like other crabs, they can mate only
when the female is moulting i.e. shedding its
shell. When the old shell is discarded, the
crab is soft and exposed to danger, until the
new shell hardens.
The Blue swimming
crab is commercially very valuable. It is harvested
throughout the year from the tropical waters
of Southeast Asia.
Sometimes, the
crab meat is pasteurized and sold in order to
extend the shelf life. In Asia, the Flower crab
is commonly eaten. It is a distinctive crab,
reddish yellow and light brown in color.
The swimming
crab meat is used to make delicious crab cakes.
They can be deep fried and made into crab cake
sandwich. The thawed crab cakes can also be
baked or pan fried. The crab cake should be
dotted with butter when baking or add melted
butter to the pan if you are frying.
The blue swimming
crab's meat has a sweet flavor and is most often
preferred over other crabmeat. Commercially,
it is extremely viable and is a big support
to the fishing industry. The blue swimming crab
is called a 'savory beautiful swimmer'. The
blue crab can be identified by its most prominent
feature, its large and powerful claws. These
claws are used for food gathering, defense,
digging and sexual displays. The shape of the
abdomen distinguishes the male crab from the
female crab. The male have a T shaped abdomen
which is held tightly against the body until
maturity, when it becomes slightly free. The
female has a triangle shaped abdomen which is
tightly sealed against the body. Once mature,
the female's abdomen becomes rounded and can
be pulled from the body after moulting. Mature
swimming crabs have brilliant blue claws and
legs and mature females have bright orange tips
on their claws. Males definitely grows larger
than females, some males grow to seven or eight
inches and sometimes even up to ten inches.
Males mate several
times but females mate during the final moult
only, when they are in the soft shell state.
The male protects the soft female after moulting.
He continues to carry her after mating until
her shell hardens. Up to two million eggs are
produced by the female, but only about one egg
per million survives to become an adult. Eggs
are carried under the abdomen till they hatch.
Females carrying an egg mass are called 'sponge
crabs'. The law in South California protects
the swimming crab.. If captured, they must be
returned to the water immediately. Most crabs
live for less then a year but only a few may
live for three years.
In early April,
during the spring, there are quite a few peeler
crabs. The fishermen, then catch these crabs
in 'peeler pots', where one or two large males
are kept to attract the females which are ready
to mate. These peeler crabs are held in shedding
tanks until the moult. Then the soft shell crabs
are removed from the water and refrigerated
for sale.
The commercial
fishing gear, most commonly used for harvesting
swimming crabs is the crab pot. It is a cubical
wire trap with two or four entrance funnels.
There are two chambers, a lower chamber which
has the entrance funnel and the bait well and
the upper chamber that is separated from the
lower chamber by a wire partition that has two
holes. October to December is the best time
of the year to catch large heavy crabs.
Swimming crabs
should be kept alive till cooking, by keeping
them cool and dry. Dead crabs spoil very quickly
and should be discarded. Crabs should be steamed
in a double boiler and seasonings may be sprinkled
on the crab or into the water.
Swimming crabs
like other ocean fishes are being over harvested.
Seasons, gear restrictions, size and catch limits
should be adhered to strictly. This will preserve
marine life greatly.
For price
quotes and any further information, feel free
to call us today at:
Siam
Canadian Foods Co., Ltd.
9th Floor, Suite 283/44, Home Place Office Building.
283 Thonglor 13, Sukhumvit 55
Kongton Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110,
THAILAND
Call us at +66-2-185-3311
Fax: +66-2-185-3317
Email us at info@siamcanadian.com
