Colossal Crabs of Hilton Head

The Florida stone crab, or Menippe mercenaria, is one our amazing local crabs. It is found throughout the coastal areas of the Southeastern United States and thrives in salt marsh environments. The deeper waters of salt marsh environments are typically where you’ll find stone crabs, forty feet deep or more! The stone crab typically lives seven to nine years. The stone crab’s diet mainly consists of oysters, small shrimp, minnows, young menhaden and other bait fish. Stone crabs are often five to seven inches. These incredible crabs are most known for their claws! These incredible claws are sometimes larger than the rest of the crab! The claws are a delicious treat. When you catch stone crabs in your traps, only take 1 claw (if it only has one then leave it as they need a claw to defend themselves.)

 Female stone crabs spawn as much as six times a year and lay anywhere from hundreds of thousands of eggs to a million in one sponge. A sponge is the name that is often used for crab nests and is attached to the mother until they hatch. But a dozen or less of those crabs will survive to adulthood. These crabs are only in the sponge for around two weeks. Then they go through several cycles of floating around with the tide, until they eventually go to the seafloor and begin crawling.

Predators of these amazing animals include dolphins, Loggerhead Sea Turtles, and shorebirds when the crab is very young. These crabs are famous for their massive muscular claws. To learn more about these extraordinary critters, their ecosystem and other amazing creatures come out our Dolphin & Nature Tour!

If you are interested in seeing a relative of the Stone Crab, the Blue Crab. Come check out our crabbing trip! We provide all of the gear, just bring yourself and enjoy this catch and release experience. www.hiltonheadcrabbing.com