What's the difference between
a male crab
and a female crab?

What's the difference between male and female crabs?

 

Our models above are shore crabs (aka European green crabs 
Carcinus maenas)

  • From the top, it is not possible to sex a crab. Instead, carefully turn the crab over to see its underside.

  • Male or female, crabs can be very aggressive and you run the risk of being pincered.

  • On the underside of the crab, you will see a flap. On a male crab, this is thin and comes to a sharp point.

  • On a female crab, this flap is wider and more rounded. This is because it is desiegned to hold thousands of eggs, as demonstrated by a female crab in the photo below: