Can blue crabs swim?
Some crabs swim. Most crabs, like stone crabs and spider crabs, walk or run across the bottom. However, crabs in the family Portunidae have specially modified back legs called swimmerettes. These paddle-shaped legs rotate at 20 to 40 revolutions per minute, allowing the crab to quickly swim through the water. One of the most well known crabs in the Portunidae family is the blue crab. In fact, the scientific name of the blue crab is Callinectes sapidus, which translates to “beautiful, savory swimmer.” How do blue crabs breathe, and how long can they stay out of water? Just like fish, blue crabs breathe using gills. However, unlike fish, blue crabs can survive out of water for long periods of time—even over 24 hours—as long as their gills are kept moist. When out of water, crabs will seek out dark, cool, moist places to help prevent their gills from drying out and to hide from predators. Crabs also have special articulating plates around their gills. They use these articulating plates to
