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A female with her eggs. She will usually hold her legs and claws over them protectively even if being handled.
Tidepool Tim says, “Rock crabs are the most common crab commercially caught in Maine. These guys like the river estuaries, bays, and coves. Their larger cousin, the Jonah crab, is a larger, deeper, and more offshore species. The two look pretty similar. Today I was towing a net for shrimp - up came the most beautiful pink & red rock crab. I had never seen one so brightly colored. When I picked him up I learned why. This crab had just molted. It was amazingly soft and touchable. I had seen a lot of soft-shells, but never a rock crab.”