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all about crab

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1. Portunus trituberculatus - The most widely fished species of crab in the world.

Species / Common Names

  1. Portunus trituberculatus / Gazami crab, Japanese Blue crab, Horse crab
  2. Portunus pelagicus  / Flower crab, Blue crab, Blue Swimmer crab, Blue Manna crab
  3. Callinectes sapidus / Chesapeake Blue crab, Atlantic Blue crab, Blue crab
  4. Cancer pagurus /  Edible crab, Brown crab
  5. Metacarcinus magister / Dungeness crab
  6. Scylla serrata /  Mud crab, Mangrove crab, Black crab
  7. Chionoecetes  / Snow Crab, Queen crab, Spider crab
  8. Maja squinado /  European Spider crab, Spiny Spider crab, Spinous Spider crab
  9. Callinectes similis / Lesser Blue crab, Dwarf crab
  10. Cancer irroratus / Atlantic Rock crab, Peekytoe crab
  11. Cancer bellianus / Toothed Rock crab
  12. Cancer borealis / Jonah crab
  13. Chaceon fenneri  / Golden crab, Golden Deep-sea crab
  14. Eriocheir sinensis / Chinese Mitten crab 
  15. Metacarcinus magister / Dungeness crab
  16. Menippe mercenaria / Florida Stone crab
  17. Gecarcinus ruricola / Purple Land crab, Black Land crab, Red Land crab, Zombie crab
  18. Cardisoma guanhumi / Blue Land Crab
  19. Menippe adina / Gulf Stone crab, Western Gulf stone crab
  20. Orithyia sinica / Tiger crab, Tiger Face crab
  21. Ovalipes australiensis / Sand Crabs
  22. Ranina ranina  / Red Frog crab, Spanner crab
  23. Scylla paramamosain / Mud crab

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7. Chionoecete / Snow Crab, Queen Crab, Spider Crabs
TRUE CRABS
There are about 7000 species of Crab, 
of those around 23 are commonly considered edible. 

Crabs 1 through 8 are the worlds most fished crabs.  
Crabs make up 20% of all marine crustaceans caught, 
farmed, and consumed worldwide, amounting to 1½ million tonnes annually. One species, Portunus trituberculatus, pictured above, accounts for one fifth of that total. 

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura and are generally covered with a hard, thick exoskeleton, and are armed with a single pair of claws. Decapod literally means "ten-Footed"  and crabs generally walk on 8 legs and  are armed with a single pair of claws.

The majority of crabs are found in all of the world's oceans, 
but many crabs live in fresh water and on land, 
particularly in tropical regions, like St. Maarten. 
Crabs vary in size from the pea crab, a few millimetres wide, 
to the Japanese spider crab, with a leg span of 
up to 4 meters or 13 feet.

Archaeologists tell us that humans have been eating crustaceans (lobsters, crabs, shrimp) since prehistoric times. They know this from excavating deposits of shells
 left by earlier civilizations.
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2. Portunus pelagicus / Flower crab, Blue crab, Blue Swimmer crab, Blue Manna crab
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3. Callinectes sapidus / Chesapeake Blue crab, Atlantic Blue crab, Blue crab
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4. Cancer pagurus / Edible crab, Brown crab
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5. Metacarcinus magister / Dungeness crab
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6. Scylla serrata / Mud crab, Mangrove crab, Black crab
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8. Maja squinado / European Spider crab, Spiny Spider crab

LOCAL LAND CRABS

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Cardisoma guanhumi / Blue Land Crab
Cardisoma guanhumi  are found locally and are called  Land crabs, Pond crabs, Jueyes or Blue Land crabs. 

This species of terrestrial crab is found in tropical and subtropical estuaries and other maritime areas of land along the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from Brazil and Colombia, through the Caribbean, to the Bahamas, and as far north as Florida. They are rather large crabs, growing to about four or five inches in diameter not including their formidable claws. 
They're the grayish-blue colored when mature and live in the network of holes found in low-lying areas near mangrove swamps, salt ponds, wetlands and marshes. During the day you may see them standing just outside a hole into which they will quickly descend as soon as they notice your approach.
Hunting and trapping Land crabs for food is a part of Caribbean culture and probably has been so since the first human beings came here. 

Land crabs should always be purged before cooking them.  Purging improves the crab's flavor and safety as it rids the crab of anything disgusting or poisonous the crab may have eaten. 
To purge the crab you must put it in a cage with plenty of ventilation and access to food and water for a few days. Feed the crabs such things as cornmeal, table scraps, coconut meat and vegetables. Keep the cage clean and periodically wet the crabs with water.
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King crabs, like Hermit crabs, 
Porcelain crabs, Horseshoe crabs and 
Crab lice, are not true crabs and 
do not belong in the infraorder Brachyura. 
King crabs are a superfamily of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas.  They're an example of carcinisation, whereby a non-crab-like animal (in this case a relative of a squat lobster) evolves into an animal that resembles a true crab
Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the Red King crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus.   
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Paralithodes camtschaticus / Red King Crab

St. Maarten Slang:   Crab ; Someone clumsy and inept at physical activities and sports.
                                                             as in, "That guy is a real crab, he could't catch a ball with a bucket."

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The most common Surimi product in the West is Imitation Crab meat. 
Surimi is also called 
imitation crab, mock crab, seafood sticks, crab sticks, fish sticks, seafood extender 
or Ocean sticks. 
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SURIMI - IMITATION CRAB

Surimi is a paste, usually made
 from fish, which literally 
translated from Japanese, 
means "Ground Meat". 
It is available in many shapes and textures, and is used to mimic  the taste, texture and color of the meat of lobster, crab 
and other shellfish. 

In Asian cultures, surimi is eaten as a food in its own right and seldom used to imitate other foods. Here in the West, surimi products areusually imitation seafood products, such as 
crab, abalone, shrimp, calamari, lobster and scallop.
 
Most retail products are both fat-free and low in cholesterol and are often nutritionally enhanced with the inclusion of omega-3 oil.
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California Roll with Surimi
When manufacturing Surimi, fish are processed, and ingredients added for taste and texture, and gives it 
excellent gelling properties 
so that it can be formed 
into various shapes. 

 In manufacturing crab-flavored Surimi, shellfish flavors are added to give the food its recognizable character. 


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