Wildlife officials looking for reports of non-native crab

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Wildlife officials in South Carolina are looking to learn more about the distribution of a non-native species of crab.

The Department of Natural Resources is asking anyone who lives along the coast to take photos if they encounter what looks like an enormous fiddler crab.

Officials say that after recent reports of blue land crab sightings, their biologists are working to learn more about where they are spreading.

Biologists say the crabs are native to along the Atlantic coast from Brazil to south Florida, but sightings have been reported in South Carolina since 2008. Researchers are hoping to determine the distribution of the crab in the state, its impact on the environment and if the crabs arrived through natural expansion or by human-mediated sources.

Unlike native blue crabs, blue land crabs dig deep burrows within a few miles of coastal waterways.

Researchers say the crabs may be more visible due to heavy rains driving them out of their burrows.

Sighting can be reported here.

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