Menippe mercenaria   (Say, 1818)

Stone crab

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Menippe mercenaria  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Menippe mercenaria

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Malacostraca | Decapoda | Menippidae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; depth range 0 - 60 m (Ref. 114309).  Tropical, preferred 25°C (Ref. 107945); 35°N - 18°N, 98°W - 71°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Western Central Atlantic: from Mexico to Turks and Caicos, then Cape Lookout North Carolina south to Jamaica.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 6.6  range ? - ? cm

Short description Morphology

Carapace transversely oval, about 2.3 times as long as wide, convex, nearly smooth to unaided eye, minutely granulate and punctate; anterolateral margins (excluding outer orbital teeth) divided into 4 lobes, front (excluding inner orbital angles) with a median notch and a broad tri-lobate lobe on each side. Pincers large and heavy, unequal, nearly smooth; inside of hands with patch of fine, oblique, parallel striae; walking legs stout and hairy distally. Color: juveniles dark purplish blue, very young with legs banded cream and red and white spot on carpus of pincer. Older individual become dark brownish red to black or less mottled and spotted with dusky grey; fingers dark; walking legs with reddish and yellow bands.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs at depths down to 60 m (Ref. 114309). Burrows in mudflats just below low-tide mark, among rocks on jetties, on offshore reef areas, under rocks or coral heads and among dead shells or grass clumps (Ref. 367), burrows in seagrass beds, oyster reefs and crevices in rocks (Ref. 114309). Occasionally burrow in colonies. Tolerant to salinities considerably lower or higher than 35. Somewhat active both day and night, greatest activity observed during the evening before dark. Preys on oysters and other mollusks (Ref. 367).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Ovigerous females are known from May to September.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Tavares, M. 2003. (Ref. 367)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Common names
Synonyms
Predators
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance
References
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: ; publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 23.5 - 28, mean 25.6 (based on 210 cells).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.
Nutrients: Calcium = 109 [35, 184] mg/100g; Iron = 1.59 [1.21, 1.97] mg/100g; Protein = 20.2 [19.2, 21.3] %; Omega3 = 0.285 [0.185, 0.386] g/100g; Selenium = 48.3 [-31.7, 128.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 0 μg/100g; Zinc = 1.79 [1.17, 2.40] mg/100g (wet weight).