Crabs or short-tailed crustaceans, a suborder of crustaceans, make up 20% of all crustaceans grown, harvested and sold in the world. Approximately 1.5 million tons of crabs are consumed annually. The species Portunus trituberculatus (better known as the Japanese blue crab) makes up one-fifth of this number and is the most studied species of crab in the world. Crabs live in all oceans, there are freshwater and terrestrial crabs. The size of crabs depends on their species. Crabs are omnivorous, they are equally willing to eat plant foods, mollusks and worms, other species of crustaceans. Some species of crabs (for example, the Maltese freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile) have been eaten since ancient times. The Potamon fluviatile population in Rome is the only case of a freshwater crab population in a large city. Due to overfishing, the existence of some species of crabs is under threat.
Crabs are cooked in different ways. Some species of crabs eat along with the shell. They are called soft-shell crab or soft-shell: they shed their chitinous cover during molting. Over time, his shell hardens. Large species of crabs (such as the snow crab) eat only some parts of the body. Crab caviar is in demand in East Asia, some Mediterranean and northern European countries, and on the East, Chesapeake, and South Coasts of the United States. In the United States, the most popular species is the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), which appears on the markets from April to September. In Japan, various types are used to make sushi. Commonly used is the blue Japanese crab (Portunus trituberculatus) or the Japanese crab (Charybis japonica). In Venice, moleche (moleche or moeche) are highly valued - young crabs that have made the first molt and their "adult" shell has not had time to harden.
Do not confuse the "Kamchatka crab" Paralithodes camtschaticus with crabs, it only looks like crabs, in fact, the Kamchatka crab belongs to the hermit crabs, is an omnivorous predator and was artificially bred in the mid-twentieth century in the Barents Sea. Surimi is an imitation of crab meat. This is a fish paste that tastes like crab meat. It is often considered a substitute for crab meat, but in Japan and South Korea, surimi is a popular ingredient for sushi.
