Blue King Crab
Paralithodes platypus

Where do blue king crabs live?
Blue king crabs live in water shallower than 200 m, from Hokkaido, Japan to Southeast Alaska and the Bering Sea, near the Pribilof Islands, St. Matthew Island, and St. Lawrence Island.

What do blue king crabs eat?
Blue king crabs diets vary with their age and how deep they live. Larval crab float around as zooplankton (microscopic animals) while eating lots of plankton (microscopic plants); as they get older and bigger juvenile crab fall to the ocean floor and begin feeding on benthic organisms; finally as adults blue king crabs will eat an assortment of worms, bivalves, echinoderms, and algae.

How do blue king crabs reproduce?
Blue king crab females spawn every 2 years. In January-February of their spawning year, female crabs first molt, then mate, fertilizing about 150,000 eggs. These fertilized eggs are attached to the female’s abdomen and are carried for about 14 months. Larvae are released into the water column where they float around as zooplankton until they are big enough to settle onto the ocean floor.