DUNGENESS CRABSGENERAL: The name "Dungeness" comes from one of their most fertile habitats, the sandy Dungeness Spit, in strait of Juan de Fuca, NW Washington, they are great eating as ~25% meat.
HABITAT: Adults live in bays and near shore waters and prefer sandy or muddy bottoms and eelgrass. Although Dungeness crabs are salt water crabs, they can tolerate salt-level changes and can be found in estuaries (where river empties out into the ocean). They usually live in waters no deeper than 30 metres. Breeding occurs in nearshore areas and females usually move to deeper water to hatch eggs.
RED ROCK CRABSGENERAL: Are a close relative to Dungeness but will not find in stores/restaurants as deemed too small for commercial fishery. Have ~15% meat, mostly claws.
HABITAT: Red rock crabs get their name from their body colour and their preferred habitat, and are found in semi-protected bays and estuaries, and in rocky areas such as outcrops and rocky headlands. Red rock crabs usually reside in places with rocky or gravel bottom and kelp beds because they lack the gill straining apparatus required for living in muddy or sandy bottoms. They can be found from pretidal depth to 79m deep.