2/3/2024 0 Comments Blue crab louisiana![]() Live 3 to 4 years.īlue crabs are opportunistic feeders, eating whatever food is available. Assisted by winds and tides, post-larval blue crabs migrate back into shallower, less saline waters in middle and upper estuaries where they grow and mature. Crabs grow by molting-their hard shell restricts growth, so they must shed it to increase in size. Tides transport newly hatched larvae from estuaries to adjacent continental shelf waters where they molt several times. A female can carry up to 3.5 million fertilized eggs. At this stage, the female is known as a “sponge” or “berry” crab. As the fertilized eggs develop, the female moves them to their underside and carries them until they are fully developed. ![]() Females move to saltier coastal Gulf and estuarine waters to spawn. The female stores the sperm in receptacles for several months. After mating, the male stays to protect the female until her new shell hardens. Mate in brackish waters of the upper estuary just after the female molts, while her shell is still soft. Typically mature after 12 months and can mate and spawn almost year round, with peak activity in spring and summer. Females are typically found in the higher salinity waters of coastal lakes and bays, while males can tolerate extremely low salinities and can be found in many tidally-influenced freshwater bodies. They often hide in structure such as marsh and sea grass or oyster reefs, or bury in soft mud bottoms for protection from predators. Bottom dwellers, adult blue crabs are found in practically every bottom type from mud flats in the shallow waters of the Gulf to grass beds in almost fresh estuarine waters. Range from the northern Atlantic coast through the Gulf of Mexico down through most South America's eastern coast.
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