Strange Looking Crab

Type: Tidal
Region: Eastern
Location: Thompson Creek

Myself and a friend were crabbing the other day on Thompson Creek on Kent Island when we caught this crab. Very strange looking and mystified on why it looks like that. The shell was hard and the orange color was eye-catching. Also, the points were turned-up. The crab was alive and I did not keep it. I put it back in the creek.

DNR Response: from Brenda Davis, Blue Crab Program: Well, I think that's the coolest crab ever, a devil crab!!!! The coloration is due to a glitch in the genetic coding that distributes the proteins that make the shell color. The very blue, purple-ish crabs we've gotten pictures of are because there's too much phycocyanin, this crab is red because there's too much phycoerythrin. The turned up point are likely from the crab being tucked away in a small space when it shed. When it molted to the larger size the carapace wasn't flat and it hardened w/ the points turned up. If it has space when it sheds again the carapace will be normally shaped.