Blue Crab T-Shirt
Size & fit
Comfort Colors 1717. Relaxed fit, true to size; size down for a closer fit.
| Size | Chest width (in) | Length (in) |
|---|---|---|
| S | 18 ¼ | 26 ⅝ |
| M | 20 ¼ | 28 |
| L | 22 | 29 ⅜ |
| XL | 24 | 30 ¾ |
| 2XL | 26 | 31 ⅝ |
| 3XL | 27 ¾ | 32 ½ |
| 4XL | 29 ¾ | 33 ½ |
Measured flat: chest across, 1 in below the armholes; length from the high shoulder. Compare with a T-shirt you own and like.
Each shirt is garment-dyed after it is sewn, so the colour can vary slightly from shirt to shirt.
A male drawn in stipple from a specimen taken at Wood's Holl in 1882, every spine and paddle in place.
The shirt
- Comfort Colors 1717: heavyweight 100% ring-spun cotton, garment-dyed and pre-shrunk.
- The full plate on the back; a detail from it on the left chest.
- Wash cold, inside out; tumble dry low. Don't iron over the print.
Shipping & production
Each shirt is printed for you after you order. Most orders are printed and on their way within 2–5 business days; delivery time depends on the shipping method you choose at checkout. Shipping is shown at checkout before you pay.
Returns
If your shirt arrives damaged, misprinted or defective, contact us within 30 days of delivery with a photo and we'll send a replacement or a refund. Because every shirt is printed to order, we can't accept returns or exchanges for size or a change of mind, so please check the size chart above before ordering.
Plate 006
From the book
- Species
- Callinectes sapidus
- As named in the book
- The Common Edible or Blue Crab; Callinectes hastatus Ordway.
- Artist
- J. H. Emerton
- Book
- The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, Sec. I, pl. 267, 1884
“…feet blue; tips of fingers and spines reddish.”
Then and now
Mary Rathbun renamed it Callinectes sapidus in 1896, "savory beautiful swimmer."
Field notes
Callinectes sapidus means "savory beautiful swimmer."
Emerton drew this crab in 1882 from a male caught at Wood's Holl, Massachusetts: every spine along the shell, and at the back the flattened, paddle-shaped last legs that make it such a fast swimmer. The book could only describe its color: "…feet blue; tips of fingers and spines reddish."
Watermen read a crab by its belly. A male is a jimmy, with a narrow apron shaped like an upside-down T. An immature female is a sally, her apron a V. A mature female is a sook, her apron wide and rounded. Sooks travel down the Chesapeake to the saltier water near its mouth to spawn, each carrying up to about three million eggs.
A crab's shell doesn't grow, so the crab has to leave it. In the hours after a molt, before the new shell hardens, it's a soft-shell.