''Chaceon quinquedens'', commonly known as the red deep-sea crab, but sold as Atlantic deep sea red crab, or simply Atlantic red crab or red crab is a crab that lives in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

off the East Coast of the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. The crab is commercially fished as food. Since 2002, the species has been managed under the Atlantic Deep-Sea Red Crab Fishery Management Plan created by the New England Fishery Management council. The

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...

has established an Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) of 1,775 tons (3.91 million pounds) but average landings rarely exceed 930 tons (2.05 Million lbs) and average value of landings in 2016-2018 was $3.29 Million. The species resembles a

snow crab ''Chionoecetes'' is a genus of crabs that live in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The genus ''Chionoecetes'' currently contains seven distinct species. Other names for crabs in this genus include "queen crab" (in Canada) and " spider ...

from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. However, they are actually members of the superfamily

Portunoidea __NOTOC__ Portunoidea is a superfamily of crabs that includes the family Portunidae, the swimming crabs. Which other crab families are also placed here is a matter of some contention, and may be revised following molecular phylogenetic analyse ...

, or swimming crabs, so are more closely related to blue crabs ''

Callinectes sapidus ''Callinectes sapidus'' (from the Ancient Greek ,"beautiful" + , "swimmer", and Latin , "savory"), the blue crab, Atlantic blue crab, or regionally as the Chesapeake blue crab, is a species of crab native to the waters of the western Atlantic ...

'', although they do not have the flattened fifth leg characteristic of that species. According to the Virginia Marine Products Board, the average weight of marketed crabs is about one to two pounds, and the average size is "1-2 lbs. or 5 to 7 inches (12.5cm-17.5cm) across the back of the shell." Red deep sea crab on the US east coast show distinct sex segregation by depth along the

continental slope A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margin ...

. Females predominate in depths of 450–700 m, and those in shallow water are predominantly reproductive adults, whereas males predominate at greater depths. Furthermore, crabs in deeper water tend to be smaller than those in shallow water. This distribution suggests that red deep sea crabs undergo ontogenetic (life-cycle) migration. In this scenario, females on the upper slope (above 600 m) release larvae that migrate to surface waters, then settle in water deeper than 1000 m. As they grow, they move upslope and eventually become mature in shallower water. Red deep sea crabs living in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, however, do not demonstrate a similar distribution; both large and small crabs are found from 500 to 1950 m, and no relationship with depth was found for sex or size. Red deep-sea crabs can develop a shell disease. This disease looks like small or large black and grey spots on the shell. These are caused by bacteria and fungi that are contagious to other crustaceans.

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Further reading