About Menippe mercenaria (Say, 1818)
Menippe mercenaria, commonly known as the Florida stone crab, has a carapace that measures 5 to 6 and a half inches (125 to 165 mm) wide. Their bodies are brownish red with gray spots, and they have a tan underside. They have large, unequally sized chelae, or claws, that have black tips. Along with the standard sexual dimorphism seen in crabs, female Florida stone crabs have a larger carapace than males of the same age, while males generally have larger chelae than females. Females reach sexual maturity at around two years of age. Males can only mate with a female after she has molted her exoskeleton. After mating finishes, the male stays to guard the female for a period ranging from several hours to several days. Each breeding season, which spans the entire spring and summer, females spawn four to six times, and produce up to one million eggs per spawning. The larvae go through six developmental stages over roughly four weeks before emerging as juvenile crabs. Florida stone crabs have a lifespan of seven to eight years.
