SOFT SHELL CRAB ( Scylla serrata ),Vietnam SEATASTE price supplier

Soft-shell crabs are one of America's favorite seafood delicacies. While all crabs shed their shells to grow, only a few species of crab can actually be eaten in this form. The blue crab is the only commercially available soft-shell product. The scientific name, Callinectes sapidus , is derived from Latin and Greek. Calli = beautiful; Nectes = swimmer; sapidus = savory. The translation is not only accurate but surprisingly poeticthe beautiful, savory swimmer.

Blue crabs grow rather rapidly, 12 - 18 months, from the juvenile stage to adulthood. A full-grown blue crab will measure nearly 8 inches across. During its lifetime the blue crab will go through several growth stages. In order for a blue crab to lose its shell, the body of the crab physically grows 30%. The commercial crabbers will harvest the blue crab and place it in floating tanks according to its expectant shed dates. The crab expert looks for a faint line next to the crab's paddle-like finlet (backfin). The color of this line will determine when the crab is about to shed its shell. What crabbers refer to as a "green" crab is a crab that is just entering the shedding stage. The "green" crab will have a white line on the backfin and will most likely shed its shell in approximately 7 - 10 days. If the line is pink, the crab is likely to shed within 2 days and probably not longer than one week. If the little line on the backfin is red the crab is likely to shed its shell at any time.

Soft-shells are split up into 5 basic sizes; whales, jumbos, primes, hotels and mediums. A sizing and weight chart is provided as follows: