Is there anything more delectable than the sweet, melt-in-your-mouth meat of the Dungeness crab?
Once known as Metacarcinus magister – the great crab – Dungeness crab
is the traditional symbol for the astrological sign, Cancer. It is also
commonly considered to be the most delicious of all the crab species.
Next time you decide to buy Dungeness crab, here are a few interesting
facts to sprinkle into your conversation with the fishmonger or chat
about over dinner.
It’s a Male
If that Dungeness crab is
on your plate, it’s very probably a male. In most states, it’s illegal
to harvest female Dungeness crab to help keep the population of crab
stable. How do you tell a male from a female Dungeness crab? Flip it
over and check out its underside. A female crab will have a fairly wide,
oval abdomen, while a male’s abdomen will be narrow and triangular.
It’s a Left Coaster
Dungeness
crabs are found along the Pacific Coast of the United States, where
they are among the most important commercial shellfish. Fishermen have
occasionally found stray Dungeness in the Atlantic Ocean,
but no one is quite sure how they got there. Scientists suspect that
they may be bought live from an online seafood market and then released
into the ocean. If you buy Dungeness crab live, it’s not a good idea to
introduce it into your local waters because it could pose a hazard to
local crabs.
Only About a Quarter of a Crab’s Weight is Meat
When
you buy Dungeness crab, only about one-fourth of its weight is edible
meat. The rest is shell and other unpalatable body parts.
If You Love Fresh Dungeness Crab, You’ve Got a Lot of Company
The
average annual harvest of live Dungeness crab along the entire Pacific
Coast ranges between 35 and 55 million pounds. That’s a LOT of succulent
goodness.
Dungeness Crabs Change Their Clothes Frequently
In
the first two years, young Dungeness crab can go through several shells
a year. Eventually, they slow down and only molt – shed their shell and
grow a new one – once a year, generally growing as much as an inch in
size.
You Can Buy Dungeness Crab Anywhere
You no longer have to live on the West Coast to enjoy fresh Dungeness crab. These days, you can order seafood online, including whole Dungeness crab and live Dungeness crab, and have it delivered right to your door.
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