Scylla serrata
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| Scylla serrata (Forsskål, 1775) |
Scylla serrata (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 are among the tastiest crab species and 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.
These crabs are highly canniballistic in nature and when another crab undergoes moulting the hard shelled ones attack the moulting crabs and devour them. The females can give birth to 1 million offspring which can grow up to 2 Kg in size.
