Portunus Armatus

Blue swimmer crabs, blueys or blue manna, are powerful swimmers, hunters and scavengers. Blue swimmer crabs are a tropical species and belong to the Portunidae family. The family also includes other large, edible crabs found in Australia, such as mud crabs. Crabs from this family can usually be recognised by their flat, disc-shaped hind legs, used as paddles for swimming. They also have nine spikes, called horns, along their carapace, on either side of their eyes. In Western Australia, a blue swimmer crab’s claw span can reach up to 80 cm. They eat small fish and crustaceans, molluscs, worms, and occasionally, algae and seagrass. In turn, they are prey for fish and birds.

Blue swimmer crabs begin life as tiny larvae, called ‘zoea’, which grow and change shape over a four-to-six-week period during early summer. They drift in bays or along the coast up to 80 kilometres out to sea. They turn into a more crab-like state called ‘megalopae’ and continue to grow rapidly. Most mating takes place in autumn when crabs become mature and their carapace is about nine centimetres across.

Blue swimmer crabs would have been a reliable source of protein for many Aboriginal tribes. Today they are a target species for commercial and recreational fishers.

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Original pen and ink drawing printed onto 310gsm Canson Aquarelle Rag using archival inks and is signed by the artist, Phoebe Duff.

All Ancient Nectar prints are limited editions of 25 and are numbered in the bottom left corner.

*Please allow 2-3 weeks delivery time for limited edition items, as they are printed to order.