Blue Crab-Soft Shell (Callinectes sapidus)

The soft shell crabs are actually blue crabs that have shed their shell and are caught before the new shells have hardened. Soft shell crabs are highly perishable and must be handled with care. The blue crab is caught along the Atlantic coast, particularly in the Chesapeake Bay area. 

The commercial crabbers read "the sign" when harvesting crab and depending on the length of time until shedding will place the crab in holding tanks or floating boxes.  The sign is read by looking at a faint line across the lower feathered edge of the next to the last paddle-like finlet.  If the color is white the crab will shed within seven to ten days, this is called a green crab.  If the color is turning from white to pink  the crab is called a second and if pink the crab will shed within two days to a week depending on the shade of pink.  If the color is red the crab will shed immediately to two days. 

A buster is a crab in the process of shedding when the shell expands to a third larger than the former shell.  If not taken out of salt water the shell will immediately begin to harden.