What’s The Orange Stuff Inside A Female Crab?

Have you ever popped off the shell of a female crab, only to find orange stuff along the top of the shell and the center of the crab? That was me back in the summer during a crab feast. I don’t regularly eat female crabs, but saw the freshly steamed beauty and I couldn’t resist.

Crack! Off came the top shell and I found orange gooey blobs lining the top of the shell.

So, what’s the orange stuff inside a crab? After doing some research, I found that the “orange stuff” found inside female crabs is thousands and thousands of tiny eggs, also known as roe.  

I’m still curious. I’ll do some research and look into what crab roe is, if it’s edible, and more.

What is Crab Roe?

Crab roe, as I mentioned before, is thousands and thousands of little tiny crab eggs. They form in a female crab after she is fertilized by a male crab, and can produce on average around 2 million microscopic crab larvae.

I don’t have an image of crab roe, but be sure to check out Chichi Wang’s article on crab innards. She has high-quality images of the “orange stuff” in female crabs.

When you take off the top shell of a female crab, also known as the carapace, keep an eye out for roe. It’s hard to miss with its very bright orange color, and forms along the inside of the crab’s carapace as well as along the intestines of the crab between its lungs.

Now we know what crab roe is, but can we eat it?

Can You Eat It?

Even with its bright, orange, and gooey look, crab roe is very edible and very tasty. It’s best eaten raw, similar to roe that comes from fish (fish eggs).

One ounce of roe contains a large amount of sodium of cholesterol but makes up for in its rich, slightly sweet taste. People say it tastes like caviar. Be sure to eat it in moderation; too much sodium and cholesterol can lead to health problems.

Crab roe is very common in tasty asian recipes, can be seen on sushi, and even in classic recipes such as crab cake as well as she crab soup.

She crab soup is a South Carolina delicacy. It was brought to America in the 1700s by Scottish settlers to the Carolinas and continues to enchant people with its creamy, warm taste to this day.

A cross between a creamy bisque and chowder, the soup is a Carolina classic. It’s a mix of crab meat, cream, roe, and to tang it up a splash of cherry. The crab meat is solely female, which said to be sweeter, which is true in my opinion.

If you are ever visiting North or South Carolina, keep an eye out for restaurants that serve she-crab soup. Each has their own special version of the dish, and do a great job.

Sponge vs Crab Roe

What came as a shocker to me is that there are eggs inside the female’s carapace. Before I did some research, I thought that eggs only formed under the crabs, apron (the capitol building shaped part of the shell underneath the crab also known as the abdomen).

Crabs do mainly store eggs mainly in their abdominal region, but sometimes in any free space inside the crab’s carapace. That’s why I was lucky enough to find crab roe when I cracked open the crab.

Crabs have little flaps on their bellies called an ‘apron’. Female crabs, to reproduce, will mate with a male crab then produce what’s called a sponge under their apron.

After 2-9 months, the crab will produce a sponge. The sponge takes around two weeks to fully develop and hatch. It starts out as a bright pink color and slowly progresses to a dark black. Be sure to check out Bluecrab.info’s article on Blue Crab Spawning.

Before you catch a taste for crab roe and start looking for female crabs to catch, be sure to check your state’s rules and regulations. Crabbing for female crabs with a sponge is illegal in most states and frowned upon in others.

Crab populations in every state are always tracked and regulated. People keeping crabs with up to 8 million tiny eggs inside them is very detrimental to the overall population.

A female crab can contain roe even if she doesn’t have a huge sponge on her belly. Again, check with your state’s crabbing laws. Some states are against harvesting female crabs altogether.

Have a craving for crab roe? You can skip the smelly crab traps and order them online. Charleston Seafood sells crab roe and can ship it overnight. If you’re in the Carolina area, you might be lucky enough to find crab roe at your supermarket.

Related Questions

What’s the yellow stuff in a crab?

If you’re eating a crab, you’ll be sure to find the yellow or sometimes green gooey stuff in the middle. Some of that’s the crab’s guts. Be sure to scrape that away, it’s not the greatest thing to eat.  

The yellow stuff inside a cooked crab is the crab’s hepatopancreas. This is a gland inside the crab that works to produce digestive enzymes and filter impurities from the crab’s blood, similar to our body’s digestive system. It’s a very tasty part of the crab and most consider it a delicacy. Be sure to try it next time you eat crabs.

Can you eat Dead Man’s Fingers?

Dead man’s fingers (a real appetizing name don’t you think?) are the “lungs” of a crab that collect all the nasty sentiments and pollution a crab encounters in our dirty waterways.

It’s no different than eating the filter to a water purifier. The last thing you should do is eat them. They’re not exactly toxic, but taste horrible and are indigestible. Be sure to throw that part of the crab away, along with the guts.