Dungeness Crab

Dungeness crab

Dungeness crab, (Cancer magister), edible crab (order Decapoda of the class Crustacea), occurring along the Pacific coast from Alaska to lower California; it is one of the largest and, commercially, most important crabs of that coast.

The male is 18 to 23 centimetres (about 7 to 9 inches) in width and 10 to 13 cm (4 to 5 in.) long. The reddish-brown upper surface is lighter toward the back; the legs and undersurface are yellowish. It lives on sandy bottoms below the low-tide mark.

Closely related North American species are the rock crab of the Atlantic coast (C. irroratus); the Jonah crab (C. borealis), in coastal waters from New England to Canada; and the red crab (C. productus) and the Pacific rock crab (C. antennarius), both in Pacific coastal waters. All are edible but their commercial importance varies.

In Great Britain, C. pagurus, known as edible crab or common crab, is fished commercially. It grows to 25 cm (10 in.) in width and weighs up to 5 kilograms (11 pounds).