Crabs: Fast Facts on a Delicacy

I come from the land of crabs: Maryland. Chesapeake Bay country.

A heaping of crabs is considered a special dining event for most around the country, but for us, it's a Saturday afternoon gathering of family. Dining is all about steaming up a bushel of Maryland Blue Crab covered in Rock Salt and Olde Bay Seasoning.

I thought everyone understood the beauty of the crab, until I started traveling. I saw crab cakes on all the menus at restaurants, but not one came close to what any local pub will sell you in Maryland.

And yes, there are Alaskan King crabs, Snow Crabs and many more varieties. Still, in my neck of the woods, the Maryland Blue Crab reigns king.

Here are some facts about crabs in general that even the most savvy crab lovers wouldn't know. Test your knowledge of these meaty delights. To start, let's get through the technical information: the crab's scientific name is Callinectes sapidus. They are crustacean which comes from the Latin word meaning shell. The scientist who studies crabs is called a carcinologist.

Most people who love the crab for its sweet taste couldn't care less about the scientific name. They worry more about combining the right combination of spices to add to the already special taste.

See how many of these you know:

- -Crabs don't have ears. Still, they can detect sound which seems a bit of a conundrum. Basically, the hollow hairs on the outside of the crab's body pick up vibrations created by sounds and vibrations in the water. These hairs are also used for feeling, tasting and smelling. How's that for multi-tasking.

- -If a crab loses a claw, it grows back. Don't you wish you had that quality?

- -Crab legs and swimming. All crabs have legs. In fact, those are generally the tastiest parts of the crab. Although they live in the water, and have all of those legs, most can't swim. The Blue and Lady crabs have specialized legs for swimming. These swimming legs are flattened out and act more like paddles. Other than that, the legs are used for walking. These paddle legs move at 20 to 40 revolutions per minute.

- -Walking. Have you ever noticed football drills where the players are asked to move sideways. That's the crab walk. While a crab can walk forwards and backwards, when they really want to move quickly they resort to a sideways movement. Since their legs are close together, and there are so many of them, the move sideways to avoid tripping. Basically, the leading legs pull, while the trailing legs push.

- -Crabs are social animals. Although a few crabs can survive on their own, they always live in association with other animals.
- -Crustaceans turn red when exposed to heat, so while you may see the live ones with a nice blue color, the cooking process will change the color. Similarly, a dead crab on a beach will turn red just because of its exposure to the sun's rays.

- -A male crab is called a Jimmy.

- -The female crab can only mate during the molting process. She emits a powerful aroma to attract the male crab. The problem is, she may not be in the molting process quite yet, so the male crab literally stakes his claim by carrying the female crab around underneath his own body until conditions are just right.

- -The female blue crab lays her eggs from 2 to 9 months after mating, depending upon when the mating took place.

- -The oldest crab industry in the United States is the blue crab industry of the Chesapeake Bay area, dating back almost to the early 1600s.

- -The ghost crab is on record as having the fastest crawling speeds. On firm sand, they have been clocked at 4 miles per hour, and 5 miles per hour on a solid, wooden deck.

- -A single Alaskan King Crab can yield over six pounds of meat. They can measure up to a 6-foot leg span.