hard-shell crab

A marine crab with a fully hardened shell, especially an edible crab in this stage.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hard-shell crab

(Animals) a crab, esp of the edible species Cancer pagurus, that has not recently moulted and therefore has a hard shell. Compare soft-shell crab

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hard′-shell` crab′

a crab, esp. an edible crab, that has not recently molted and has a hard shell.

[1900–05]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

hard-shell crab - edible crab that has not recently molted and so has a hard shell

crab - decapod having eyes on short stalks and a broad flattened carapace with a small abdomen folded under the thorax and pincers

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References in periodicals archive

For tag return rates, the highest was for male hard-shell crab (16%, 289 of 1832), followed by male soft-shell crab (11%, 26 of 236), female hard-shell crab (6%, 112 of 1930), and female soft-shell crab (3%, 3 of 95; Table 2; Fig.

A comparison of laboratory-holding and tag-return methods for evaluating delayed mortality of Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) discarded in Oregon fisheries

Heck, we can't even open a hard-shell crab without an instruction manual.

'Jews calls bill a threat to insurer'

We have adapted the following categories for red deepsea crab: 1) new-shell crab were relatively soft, clean, and brightly colored, had sharp dactyls, and indicated that the crab had molted (probably) within the last 1-2 months; 2) hard-shell crab had harder shells with some discoloration and scratches but were still glossy and may have molted within the last 6-12 months; 3) old-shell crab had lost their glossy, reflective sheen, had numerous dark patches, scratches, and dull dactyls, and probably had not molted for 2 or more years; 4) very-old-shell crab were much darker and discolored, indicating these crab had not molted for 4-6 years.

Depth and temperature distribution, morphometries, and sex ratios of red deepsea crab (Chaceon quinquedens) at 4 sampling sites in the Mid-Atlantic Bight

Crab pots are the principal fishing gear for all the hard-shell crab fisheries in North Carolina.

Factors driving the density of derelict crab pots and their associated bycatch in North Carolina waters

Large adult crabs (110-140 mm CW) were found to prey heavily on hard-shell crabs of intermediate size (20-50 mm CW) while ignoring crabs less than 20 mm CW and injuring crabs in the 50-90-mm CW range (Dutil et al.

Ration and temperature effects on the condition of male adolescent molter and skip molter snow crab

Shellfish Knives: Manufacturers have designed knives to open oysters, clams, scallops and hard-shell crabs. A good shellfish knife will have two distinct features: rigidity and shortness.

June 2007: Ingredients & Implements: Foie Gras and Specialty Seafood Tools