NOAA Fisheries Image Gallery

Mud Crab

Picture by: Jitesh Solanki, India Picture taken on: November 26th, 2010

Tags: public photo crab mud india

Jitesh Solanki holding a 1.5 kg live Scylla Serata or "mud crab" in India. Often called mud crab or mangrove crab, although both terms are highly ambiguous, as well as black crab) is an economically important crab species found in the estuaries and mangroves of Africa, Australia and Asia. In their most common form, the shell colour varies from a deep, mottled green to very dark brown. Generally cooked with their shells on, when they moult their shells, they can be served as a seafood delicacy, one of many types of soft shell crab. They have a huge demand in South Asian countries where they are often bought alive in the markets. In the northern states of Australia and especially Queensland, mud crabs are relatively common and generally prized above other seafood within the general public.