Top 16 Crabs
in the World

Seacore Seafood is a family-owned business based in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, specializing in the processing of fresh and frozen seafood. Established in 1987, Seacore Seafood has become one of the leading companies in the seafood industry in Canada. The company takes pride in its dedicated approach to quality and sustainability, providing its customers with seafood that is highly rated for its freshness and flavor. Seacore Seafood offers a wide range of products, including crabs, bass, salmon, shellfish, and many other types of fish and seafood. In addition to fresh products, Seacore also offers frozen options, which undergo rigorous standards to preserve their nutritional value and flavor. Through its dedicated work and high-quality products, Seacore continues to be a trusted partner for many restaurants, retailers, and seafood distributors across Canada.Expand

Dungeness crab is a common crab found in the Pacific Northwest and off the coast of Washington. This large crustacean is heavier than most crabs and around 25% of its weight is pure meat. It's caught during the winter and until July in one-way door cages called pots. This crab is usually steamed or boiled whole, and the firm-textured meat with a sweet, mild, and nutty flavor is picked afterwards. The meat can be used in salads, crab cakes, stews, bisques, dips, and pasta dishes. It's also sometimes used in a spicy curry, which is then served with steamed rice on the side. Interestingly, Dungeness crab is high in protein and rich in zinc, selenium, and vitamin B12. The name comes from the Dungeness Spit, a sandy stretch of land in Northwest Washington.Expand

The warm waters of Florida’s Gulf Coast are home to the state’s quintessential seafood delicacy - the stone crab. This small crustacean has a smooth, red-brownish shell with a pair of hefty claws which are packed with sweet, flaky, and delicate meat. Stone crab’s meaty claws are the primary target when harvesting this crustacean between mid-October and mid-May. Live stone crabs have their claws removed skillfully, and they are then released into the water to regrow them within the span of 1 or 2 years. The crab claws need to be cooked immediately upon removal because they’ll spoil otherwise. Boiled, chilled, and cracked stone crab claws make for perfect finger food, and they're usually accompanied by a creamy mustard-based dipping sauce on the side, although they can also be used to make a hearty stone crab chowder.Expand

Centolla fueguina is an exceptionally flavored crustacean of the crab family Lithodes santolla, also known as Southern king crab or Tierra del Fuego crab, native across the southern coasts of Argentina and Chile. The best-known fishing grounds with the highest quality of crab are found in the Beagle Channel in the south of Argentina. The crab’s sweet, delicately flavored meat found in the long legs and the red, spiky shell is widely regarded as one of the best crab meat in the world. A gastronomic delight, centolla fueguina is undisputedly one of the most famous regional delicacies of the Tierra del Fuego province, served in restaurants all over the region. Once removed from the cold water, the crab has to be prepared or frozen immediately as its meat is very delicate and highly susceptible to deterioration. Its natural flavor shows off best when cooked plain, with no added flavors or sauces, but it is nonetheless used in the preparation of a variety of delicious crab dishes, such as crab gratins, casseroles, ceviche dishes, tarts, or crêpes, to name a few.Expand

Lithodes santolla (the scientific classification of the southern king crab) is a species of king crab native to the coast of Chile, Argentina, and Peru. They can typically live in waters up to 150 meters deep, but some fishermen have also found them in depths of up to 600 meters. The fishing process involves cooking the legs and then flash-freezing them to preserve freshness. Thus, preparing the legs for consumption simply means reheating them using a steamer, an oven, or even a microwave, then eaten as is or dipped in a savory sauce. Also worth mentioning is that the southern king crab has one of the highest meat/shell ratios of all crabs, so the sweet and delicate interior is enough to go around!Expand

THIS SPECIES IS AT RISK OF EXTINCTION. In the mangrove-lined salt waters in the Brazilian region of Sergipe resides a small crab with flavorful, delicate flesh. It is known as aratù, a crustacean belonging to the Grapsidae family, living either in holes in the sand or inside branches of the dense vegetation. Traditionally, fishing for aratù is a women’s activity: they would draw the crabs into specially-designed wooden traps, then return to the village in the evening to share the catch with their families. However, these days, with the arrival of electricity, the situation has changed. The women clean the crabs as soon as it is caught, and the meat is kept in freezers for people who buy it at insanely low prices only to be resold to nearby restaurants, where it is sold for more than double the original price. The women also see a reduction of aratù crab in the waters due to nearby shrimp farms and the exploitation by some local gatherers who fish and eat undersize crabs of pregnant females. Due to a fungal disease, from 2000 to 2004, the daily catch of a more common type of crab, caranguejo, has fallen from 180 to 20, causing enormous problems for the aratù crabs which are now at risk of extinction.Expand

Hokkaido hairy crab or kegani is a prized crab that's found in the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan. The crabs have spiky hairs that cover their entire body. The texture of their flesh is dense and firm, while the flavor is sweet. The crabs are usually boiled in saltwater in order to bring out their naturally rich flavors, and they're then cut into sections and eaten by hand. People usually start from the crab legs and then move on to crab roe. The roe of Hokkaido crabs is fragrant and light, and it shouldn't be confused with Chinese mitten crabs, which is a different breed of the same species. Regardless of the order of eating, the crab heart should always be removed (along with other internal organs) as it has a bitter flavor. Hokkaido hairy crab is used in various dishes such as soups, kanimeshi (crab meat on rice, a specialty of Oshamambe near Hokkaido), and crab chawanmushi.Expand

Txangurro is a species of spider crab that is often used in Basque cuisine. Known as centollo, or its scientific name, Maja squinado, this crustacean is distinguished by a large and spiky carapace with long and thin legs, and it is highly appreciated for its delicately flavored meat. Collected from the Bay of Biscay, and typical of Bilbao and San Sebastian, txangurro is also the name of a seafood delicacy prepared with the crabmeat obtained from this renowned crustacean. Found in numerous pintxos bars and seafood restaurants, the crab is typically stuffed and baked in its own shell, or used in various seafood dishes combined with garlic, leeks, onions, and tomatoes. It can also be used in crab cakes, soufflés, or tartlets.Expand

Devon crab is a type of crab that’s sustainably fished in the waters off the South Devon coast. The crabs are caught using pots that are laid in strings on the sea bed, and they cause no damage to the sea environment. These crabs’ meat is rich in minerals and vitamins and low in fat. The meat also contains Omega 3 acids, which help to prevent heart disease and help with the development of the brain. The brown meat and sweet claw meat is packed with flavor, and it’s often mixed with lemon juice and mayonnaise before it’s spread on toast. Expand

Endemic to the Colombian islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina, the black crab (lat. Gecarcinus ruricola) is easily recognizable by its black shell and red legs with yellow markings. Every year between April and June, thousands of these crabs descend from the forests and hatch their eggs in the water. The little hatchlings are born in the sea and find their own way home after 20 days, continuing to develop under rocks and logs or underground. The crabs are harvested manually by the local Raizal population – they are first kept alive in containers, then processed by women using handmade tools. They are boiled, the shells are removed in order to obtain the meat, while the claws are typically sold by piece. The meat is traditionally boiled or stewed and paired with rice, used in empanadas, or in rondón – a local dish that also contains fish and meat. However, the most popular dish is known as sopa de cangrejo (black crab soup), combining crab meat with ingredients such as sweet potatoes, flour and water dumplings, yams, garlic, coconut milk, pepper, and local aromatic herbs. During the migration period and the breeding season, the capture and consumption of black crabs is banned, and anyone caught disobeying it faces a fine that is equivalent to three months of the minimum wage. Although many islanders make their living from harvesting the crabs, during the breeding season they turn into modern-day superheroes because most of them are employed as enforcers of the ban, protecting the crabs and making sure that they continue to thrive on the island.Expand

Thriving in shallow seawaters and lagoons along Sri Lanka’s coastline, edible crab species are found in abundance, and they’ve always been an integral part of the country’s traditional cuisine. Among the most appreciated edible species of crabs are the mud crab (Scylla serrata), the blue swimming crab (Portunus pelagicus, also known as P. armatus), and the red-spotted swimming crab (Portunus sanguinolentus). Burrowed deeply in soft, muddy bottoms among mangroves, the mud crab (also known as the giant mud crab, lagoon crab, mangrove crab, or Sri Lankan crab) is a large crustacean that is distinguished by a dark green to bluish-green color, and it is a highly sought-after delicacy both in local and export markets. The other two edible crabs are mostly marine species that inhabit sandy and sandy-muddy substrates in shallow waters. Sri Lankan crabs are highly-prized for their sweet, tender, and succulent snow-white meat that is used in a wide range of specialties such as chili crab, baked crab, pepper crab, curry crab, and crab masala. In Sri Lanka, numerous restaurants specialize in delicacies prepared with the meat of these delicious crustaceans. Due to overfishing and lack of management of the crab fishery in the country, many species of these valuable crustaceans are at risk of becoming extinct.Expand