Portunus pelagicus
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Portunidae
Genus: Portunus
Species: P. pelagicus
Binomial Name: Portunus pelagicus
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Family: Portunidae
Genus: Portunus
Species: P. pelagicus
Binomial Name: Portunus pelagicus
The flower crab or also known as The Blue Swimmer is a species of crab native in Indian and Pacific Ocean, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. The male flower crabs have blue-ish color, while the females have green/brown color. The characteristics of flower crab are long chelipeds or clamps and round carapace or body that can grow from 5-7cm up to 20cm wide. Flower crabs are known for their habit to stay under mud or sand for a long period of time, especially during day time and they have really high tolerance to ammonia and nitrate. They feed on microalgae and small fish and they cannot survive for long period of time when out of sea water and they are really great swimmers.
Mostly, flower crabs are used as delicacy in Asian countries. Not only in Asia, the flower crab has also become one of the major fishing industries, especially in Western Australia. The female flower crab will find shallow water to hatch their eggs, and their eggs will need around 10-12 days to develop from larva until their final larval stage.
Mostly, flower crabs are used as delicacy in Asian countries. Not only in Asia, the flower crab has also become one of the major fishing industries, especially in Western Australia. The female flower crab will find shallow water to hatch their eggs, and their eggs will need around 10-12 days to develop from larva until their final larval stage.