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Dungeness Crab | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Dungeness Crab

Metacarcinus magister

MalacostracaSandy and muddy bottoms and eelgrass beds from the intertidal zone to about 200 metres

Field profile

The Dungeness crab is a broad, purple-brown crab of the Pacific coast of North America, named after a small port in Washington state. It is the basis of a major commercial fishery from California to British Columbia and Alaska. Adults feed on clams, small crustaceans and fish.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-06-15

Dungeness Crab

Warm water can close the Dungeness crab season

Dungeness crabs are periodically unsafe to eat, not because of anything the crab does, but because a bloom of the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia loads their viscera with domoic acid. Managers have delayed entire seasons on the strength of toxin tests.

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