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Portunus pelagicus   (Linnaeus, 1758)

Blue swimming crab

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

Philippines country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: commercial | Ref: del Mundo, C.M., 2000
Aquaculture: never/rarely | Ref:
Regulations: no regulations | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Known from central Visayan region (Ref. 85185), i.e., Cebu and Iloilo, Cavite, Rizal, Manila Bay and Jolo (Ref. 81840). C: Ref. 10, 81840, 85185, 111207; M: Ref. 10.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/rp.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: del Mundo, C.M., 2000
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Alimango, ... more

Classification / Names / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS

Malacostraca > Decapoda (Lobster, shrimp and crabs) > Portunidae (swimming crabs)

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

Reef-associated; brackish; depth range 0 - 65 m (Ref. 111223).   Tropical, preferred 26°C (Ref. 107945); 35°N - 15°S, 99°E - 137°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Indo-West Pacific: from China, Japan and Korea to Philippines and westwards to the straits of Malaccca, also present in the Northern Territory, Australia. Tropical to subtropical.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 6.5, range 6 - ? cm Max length : 20.0 cm CW male/unsexed; (Ref. 343)

Short description Morphology

Carapace rough to granulose, regions discernible; front with 4 acutely triangular teeth; 9 teeth on each anterolateral margin, the last tooth 2 to 4 times larger than preceding teeth. Chelae elongate in males; larger chela with conical tooth at base of fingers; pollex ridged. Color: males with blue markings, females dull green.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Matures at about 1 year. Collected mainly by artisanal traps, trawls, beach seines, cylindrical wire traps, folding traps, pots, hop nets, drop nets, and sunken crab gill nets. In shallow waters, it is caught using beach seines, rakes, and dab nets. Sold in local markets (fresh or frozen) and for the crab-flesh canning industry. Most widely sold in markets of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines (Ref. 343). Maximum depth from Ref. 801.

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

Members of the order Decapoda are mostly gonochoric. Mating behavior: Precopulatory courtship ritual is common (through olfactory and tactile cues); usually indirect sperm transfer.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Ng, P.K.L. 1998. (Ref. 343)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Poisonous to eat (Ref. 130554)

Human uses

Fisheries: highly commercial
FAO - Aquaculture: production; Fisheries: landings, species profile | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: species profile; publication : search) | 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): 18.1 - 29, mean 27.6 (based on 1324 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278) High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (K=0.1-3.11).
Prior r = 1.19, 95% CL = 0.78 - 1.78, Based on 22 data-limited stock assessments.
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.