Comparative analysis of the proximate and elemental composition of the blue crab Callinectes sapidus, the warty crab Eriphia verrucosa, and the edible crab Cancer pagurus

Abstract

The proximate composition and element contents of claw muscle tissue of Atlantic blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) were compared with the native warty crab (Eriphia verrucosa) and the commercially edible crab (Cancer pagurus). The scope of the analysis was to profile the chemical characteristics and nutritive value of the three crab species. Elemental fingerprints showed significant inter-specific differences, whereas non-significant variations in the moisture and ash contents were observed. In the blue crab, protein content was significantly lower than in the other two species, while its carbon content resulted lower than that characterizing only the warty crab. Among micro-elements, Ba, Cr, Cu, Li, Mn, Ni, and Pb showed extremely low concentrations and negligible among-species differences. Significant inter-specific differences were observed for Na, Sr, V, Ba, Cd and Zn; in particular, cadmium and zinc were characterized in the blue crab by concentrations significantly lower than in the other two species. The analysis of the available literature on the three species indicated a general lack of comparable information on their elemental composition. The need to implement extended elemental fingerprinting techniques for shellfish quality assessment is discussed, in view of other complementary profiling methods such as NMR-based metabolomics.

Mercury content of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) from southern New England coastal habitats: Contamination in an emergent fishery and risks to human consumers

“…2B). The absolute range of Hg concentrations measured in this study (0.01–0.52 ppm wet weight assuming muscle has 75.1% moisture content; Küçükgülmez et al, 2006; Kuley et al, 2007; Zotti et al, 2016) are consistent with literature values for conspecifics and congeners from other geographic areas (muscle Hg on a ppm wet weight basis; Table 4), including Callinectes spp. from the North and South Atlantic Ocean (0.01–0.42 ppm), Gulf of Mexico (0.02–0.47 ppm), and Caribbean waters (0.01–1.32 ppm).…”

Can Microplastics Influence the Accumulation of Pb in Tissues of Blue Crab?

“…San Pedro del Pinatar is considered by environmental studies to be a non-polluted area [ 45 ] and so, as expected, the crabs fed on mussels from this area had low Pb concentrations in their tissues. These concentrations were lower than those reported for the same species in other Mediterranean areas such as the Köyceğiz Lagoon (Turkey), Acquatina Lagoon (Italy), İskenderun Bay (Turkey) and Mersin Bay (Turkey) [ 20 , 31 , 50 , 51 , 52 ], and also lower than from countries such as USA, Brazil, and Venezuela [ 33 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. The non-exposed crabs (‘Zero Hour’ group) had the same Pb concentration as those fed on mussels from San Pedro del Pinatar, which could be due to the fact that, after winning the European Riverprize Awards in 2016, the river Segura is now one of the least polluted rivers in Spain.…”

“…Its distribution is influenced by the temperature and salinity of the water, being commonest in estuaries and seas with muddy bottoms [ 26 , 27 , 28 ]. In 2016, the Spanish Ministry of Fisheries included C. sapidus on its list of commercial fish species [ 29 ], and it is nutritionally well-accepted when described as ‘Mediterranean blue crab meat’ [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Studies of metal contamination in this species have multiple objectives, including its effects on human health and the fitness of crabs themselves [ 33 ], given that they reside in surface sediments and feed on benthic prey that normally live in contaminated areas.…”

Microelements and macroelements in the body of the invasive Harris mud crab (Rhithropanopeus harrisii, Maitland, 1874) from the central coast of the South Baltic Sea

“… a Islam et al (2016) b Jimmy and Arazu (2012) c Sudhakar et al (2011) d Moronkola et al (2011) e Silambarasan et al (2015) f Küҫükgülmez et al (2006) g Kathirvel et al (2014) h Zotti et al (2016) i Soundarapandian et al (2014) j Soundarapandian et al (2013) k Adeyeye et al (2010) l Erdem et al (2015) m Barrento et al (2009)…”