Creature Feature – Toxic Crabs | 水產百科網

Thesexanthidcrabscanaccumulatetwoofthemostlethalnaturalsubstancesknown-saxitoxinandtetrodotoxin-intheirmusclesandeggmasses.Bothsaxitoxin ...

Andrew Hosies blog | Created 1 decade ago

Crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters and prawns are a major component of peoples’ diets around the world with eleven million tonnes caught or cultured annually. Despite a considerable diversity of crustacean species in Australia, only a handful of species are harvested as part of commercial or recreational fisheries. In Western Australia there are only about a half-dozen crab species that are commonly seen in seafood restaurants or fish markets, with the blue swimmer and mud crabs being the most common.

Not all crabs are safe to eat, however, and a few can carry lethal doses of toxins. Most of the toxic crabs belong to the family Xanthidae which is the most diverse family of crabs in Australia and notable for their black tipped claws. So far, only a small number of species of this family are known to be toxic, but it is a good i...