Stone Crabs

Stone Crabs are a type of crustacean.

Summary
Rita Bennett was shown using a crab mallet to smash crab claws when she and Dexter Morgan attended the Crab Festival in Miami. (“Dexter")

The species of stone crab being eaten in the episode is the Florida Stone Crab (Menippe mercenaria).

Florida Stone Crab Trivia

 * Description - Brownish-red with gray spots and a tan underside; large and unequally sized claws have black tips


 * Location - Areas around the peninsula of Florida


 * Habitat - Limestone sand, rocky outcrops, seagrass beds, and holes near dock pilings


 * Diet - Oysters, small mollusks, polychaete worms, other crustaceans and, occasionally, seagrass and carrion


 * Predators - Horse conch, grouper, sea turtles, cobia, octopi, and humans
 * Regeneration - The crab easily loses its limbs in battle, or to escape from predators and tight spaces. It will intentionally drop any of its legs or claws if they are damaged or sick. The claw can be forcibly broken off when it is harvested by fishermen. In most cases, the crab is returned to the water as the body is too small to be eaten. The claws can only re-grow if the joint that linked the claw to the body is left intact.