Meet the beautiful swimmer.

A little biology makes the Chesapeake’s signature crab even more interesting.

The blue crab carries its swimming equipment with it: a pair of flattened, paddle-like back legs. Its shell can look olive or blue-green, while the claws give it the familiar flash of blue.

Growing means a change of shell. A crab sheds its hard outer covering during a molt; a soft new shell is waiting underneath. “Peeler” describes a crab approaching that change, rather than a different species.

That distinction is a useful place to start when reading a seafood menu. A soft-shell crab and a crab cake describe very different preparations. Neither menu term, on its own, tells you where the crab was caught.