Crabs

Australia has three main species of edible crabs. Blue swimmer crabs, with their distinctive mottled bright blue to purple-brown shell, typically weigh around 200-300 g. They are one of the few crustaceans not sold live, as they don’t survive well once caught. Mud crabs, found mainly on the muddy bottoms of shallow coastal mangroves, have large front legs and developed claws and generally weigh 500 g-1 kg. Spanner crabs have spanner-shaped front claws and long, almost goblet-shaped, bright orange shells (even when live). They weigh about 400 g and are usually sold cooked, although they can occasionally be found live. Spanner crabs have a lower yield than other crabs and so are also lower priced.