We love crabs. We’ll gladly bang our mallets loudly on their claws just to get out every last morsel of steamed meat, scrape away the Devils Fingers to get to the heavenly parts at the core, and sit for hours picking just to partake in the delicacy. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we’d like to extend our thanks to these coastal crustaceans.
Here are a few fun facts about our crabby little friends that we think pay tribute to the delicious seafaring creatures quite nicely:
Sprinkle Some Seasoning on Top
- Each year, humans around the globe consume 1.5 million tons of crabs.
- Crabs account for one fifth of all living creatures caught from the water bodies of the world.
- Crab meat is high in vitamin B12, and it is estimated that 2-3 ounces of crabmeat supplies an entire day’s worth of the vitamin.
Call Them What You Will
- Callinectes sapidus, the crab’s scientific name, comes from the Greek words for “beautiful, savory, swimmer.”
- Male blue crabs are referred to as “jimmies,” females, “sooks.”
Savory Swimmers
- In the Chesapeake region, crabs generally live for about three to four years and reach maturity between 12 and 18 months.
- The largest recorded blue crab caught in the Chesapeake measured at 10.72 inches and weighed in at 1.1 pounds.
- Just like we love to eat them, they love to eat – anything: clams, oysters, smaller crustaceans, deceased fish, bristle worms, and even juvenile and soft-shelled blue crabs.
If you’re as thankful as we are for these famed crustaceans, come on down to Costa’s Inn Restaurant in Baltimore to treat yourself to some crabs this holiday season, and savor the “beautiful, savory swimmers.”
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