Puget Sound species cards. Click a card to expand full harvest details underneath.
Dungeness Metacarcinus magister
- Keepable: 5 hard-shell males per day (Puget Sound)
- Catch size: 6 ¼ in minimum, measure inside the points
- Catch record card: Required; record immediately in ink or the WDFW app
Washington celebrity crab named for Dungeness Spit.
Sex the underside before keeping: males have a narrow pointed flap; release all females and soft-shell crab. Soft-shell check: press beside the folded claw; if it dents or flexes, release it.
WDFW Dungeness species profile
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Catch record card
Red rock Cancer productus
- Keepable: 6 crab of either sex per day
- Catch size: 5 in minimum, widest part of the shell
- Catch record card: Not required for red rock
Those black claw tips are the tell that separates them from Dungeness.
Hard-shell only. Black claw tips and a deeper brick-red shell help tell red rock apart from white-tipped Dungeness. Soft-shell crab must be released.
WDFW red rock species profile
Tanner Chionoecetes bairdi
- Keepable: 6 crab of either sex per day
- Catch size: 4 ½ in minimum, widest part of the shell
- Catch record card: Not required for Tanner
Spider-legged and sweet-meated, a deep-water cousin of snow crab.
Long spindly legs and a smaller round carapace. Soft-shell must be released. Measure at the widest part of the shell, not tip to tip on the legs.
WDFW Tanner species profile
European green crab Carcinus maenas
- Keepable: 0; possession, retention, transport, and release of a live European green crab are illegal without authorization
- Identify: Five spines on each side of the shell plus three rounded bumps between the eyes, the 5-3-5 pattern; color is not reliable
- Report: Take photos from several angles, note the exact location, and promptly report online or call 1-888-WDFW-AIS
Invasive European green crabs can damage eelgrass, estuaries, shellfish, and native food webs.
WDFW lists risks to eelgrass beds, marsh and estuary habitat, clams, oysters, shellfish aquaculture, salmon and forage-fish recovery, native crabs, and the wider food web. WDFW is not asking the public to kill suspected crabs because native species are often misidentified. Do not disturb tagged WDFW traps. Targeted trapping requires a permit.
Report and learn about European green crab at WDFW
Northern kelp crab Pugettia producta
- Keepable: 0; closed to recreational harvest in Puget Sound
- Identify: Smooth shield-shaped shell, prominent forked rostrum, and long cylindrical legs
- Color: Usually olive, brown, or kelp-colored; shell width reaches about 4 in
Kelp-colored camouflage can change with habitat and diet.
Look for three spines outside each eye and the pointed, shield-like body. Observe and release carefully where found.
WDFW northern kelp crab species profile
Puget Sound king crab Echidnocerus cibarius
- Keepable: 0; closed to recreational harvest in Puget Sound
- Identify: Massive knobby shell, vivid purple to red-orange coloring, cream highlights, and a very large right crushing claw
- Habitat: A rare native generally associated with deeper rocky water
One of the Sound's most spectacular native crabs is strictly look, photograph, and release.
Older references may use the scientific name Lopholithodes mandtii. Handle only as needed for an immediate careful release.
WDFW crab regulations