Blue Crab

Description:

I spotted this specimen either swimming (if alive) or floating (if dead) in the harbor near Patriot's Point in Charleston Harbor. I don't think I have enough details available from these pictures to make a correct identification at species level, and there are three locally occurring species of blue crab along the coast of SC - Callinectes sapidus, C. similis, C. ornatus. Blue crabs are portunids (swimming crabs), have a specialized pair of flat, oar-shaped rear legs (pereopods) called or swimmerets - you can see these in the pictures. It is missing one claw.

Habitat:

Native to the western edge of the Atlantic Ocean.

Notes:

Spotted near Patriots Point in Charleston Harbor Add'l resource: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/sertc/Blue...