Chimera Blue Crab

Ever see one of these?  A Chimera blue crab was caught in the Wye river by Derek Zavetz.  The Chesapeake Outlaws posted this picture on their Facebook page.  It is a wild looking crab that is fine to eat.  This process is known as Chimera which by definition is … “A monster from Greek mythology that breathes fire and has a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a snake’s tail”  That would be a scary looking crab that I would not want to handle, but in this case it is a type of genetic mutation …  “An animal chimera is a single organism that is composed of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated from different zygotes involved in sexual reproduction. If the different cells have emerged from the same zygote, the organism is called a mosaic. Chimeras are formed from at least four parent cells (two fertilized eggs or early embryos fused together). Each population of cells keeps its own character and the resulting organism is a mixture of tissues.”

I recently saw an albino crab picture posted online.  An all white crab, no blue.  That I am sure is also safe to eat.

Fish On!!

Rich King