Stone Crab

Menippe mercenaria

The stone crab (Menippe mercenaria), also known as the Florida stone crab, is a robust crab found in the western Atlantic from Connecticut to Belize, most abundant in Florida waters. It has a heavy, dark brownish-red oval carapace reaching about 14 cm and massive, unequal claws with black-tipped fingers powerful enough to crush oyster and clam shells. It inhabits rocky shorelines, jetties, seagrass beds, and oyster reefs from the intertidal to about 60 m. The species is commercially important as only its claws are harvested; the crab is returned alive to regenerate new claws. Divers may encounter them in rocky crevices or burrowed in muddy substrate.