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Fish, Crustaceans & Cephalopods

Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber)

Also known as Mangrove Crab, Muddy and Black Crab.

Mud crabs are large crabs with a smooth, broad carapace.  They have 9 even sized teeth on each side of their eyes.  Their two hind legs are flattened for swimming.  In the most common form, the colour varies from very dark brown to mottled green.  The other, generally smaller form has a deeper body and is reddish brown.

In Australia, mud crabs inhabit tropical to warm temperate waters from Exmouth in Western Australia up and around to the Bega River in southern New South Wales.

Mudcrabs inhabit sheltered estuaries, the tidal reaches of some rivers, mud flats and mangrove forests, although females carrying eggs are present in deeper waters up to 50 kilometres offshore.  These crabs favour a soft, muddy bottom, often below low tide level.

Mating occurs when the female mud crab is in the soft-bodied condition following moulting.  Female mud crabs in Australian populations migrate offshore to spawn and are rarely seen.  2 to 8 million eggs are produced in each spawning.   Female crabs incubate the eggs for 2 to 4 weeks under their abdominal flap.  For more information on the cycle of the Mudcrab click here PDF format

Mud crabs live for up to 3 years.

Juvenile mud crabs eat planktonic animals, benthic molluscs and crustaceans of various types. Adults feed at night on a variety of bivalve and gastropod molluscs including mussels, pipies, small crabs and polychaete worms.  Mud crabs are also attracted to dead fish and meat in

traps.  The mud crab's large claws are used for crushing and cutting their prey.  If they lose a claw, they may grow another one in successive moults.

Natural predators of mud crabs include sharks, crocodiles, turtles, rays, large fish such as rock cods and barramundi.

Mud Crabs are caught in wire mesh pots baited with meat or fish.   Mudcrabs are also a bycatch of the coastal set gillnet fishery for barramundi and threadfin salmon.

Live mudcrabs are sold on the local markets and also exported.

Minimum size applies in all states.  Females in berry (with eggs) are protected in New South Wales and all females are protected in Queensland and Western Australia.

Male and female crab identification

Cooking Mud Crabs:
Mud Crabs are also swimmer Crabs, are found mainly on the muddy bottoms of shallow coastal mangroves. A number of closely related Mud Crabs, are differentiated by colour, but the Giant Mud Crab (Scylla serrata), with its dark blue-green to mottled brown shell, is by far the major species in Australia. Most common in Queensland, where only the males are caught, they are available year round. Supply peaks from January to April in Queensland and NSW and from May to August in the NT. They have large front legs and developed claws and generally weigh 500g-1kg. They’re mostly sold live (as they can live out of water for days) but are also available cooked. It is best not to buy dead uncooked Mud Crabs as it’s difficult to determine their quality. They yield about 25% meat, largely from the front claws, and are high priced with sweet flesh that has a slightly stronger flavour and firmer texture than that of other Crabs.

Cooking Tips: For live crabs allow 10 minutes per 500g to cook. Steam or boil in salted water.