Tanner Crab

At a glance

Tanner Crab (Chionoecetes bairdi) is an invertebrate regulated in 2 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.

The strictest bag limit is 3 (Alaska); the most generous is 30 (Alaska).

Confirmed by 80 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• Male Tanner crabs can reach a carapace width of about 5 inches, roughly twice the size of females.
• They live on muddy and sandy seafloors at depths of 50 to 600 meters in the North Pacific and Bering Sea.
• Tanner crabs are commercially harvested in Alaska and are closely related to the snow crab.
• Their range spans from Alaska across the Bering Sea to Japan.
• Like all crabs, Tanner crabs must periodically molt their hard shell to grow, leaving them temporarily vulnerable.

Where Tanner Crab are seen

• Alaska44 iNat obs
• British Columbia34 iNat obs
• Washington2 iNat obs

Jurisdictions with rules for Tanner Crab

• AlaskaUnited States · official source
• WashingtonUnited States · official source

Background

Chionoecetes bairdi is a species of crab known alternatively as bairdi crab and tanner crab. C. bairdi is closely related to Chionoecetes opilio, and it can be difficult to distinguish C. opilio from C. bairdi. Both species are found in the Bering Sea and are sold commercially under the name "Snow crab". Tanner crabs have suffered from overfishing and as a result strict controls have been placed…

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Tanner Crab article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other invertebrates on CatchRules

• Samoan CrabScylla serrata
• Spotted Reef CrabCarpilius maculatus
• Sand WormAlitta virens
• Sixgill SharkHexanchus griseus