Hard Shell crabs & Soft Shell crabs - is there a difference in the *kind* of crab?

[underpants]

We were having a discussion about this at work and it hit me - why is it that you have to "pick" a hard shell crab of the "lungs" "fingers" "bubbles" whatever you want to call it but a soft shell crab you can eat whole?

Are they two different types of crab?

:shrug:

[Demoiselle]

1. Soft shelled crabs are naked hard shelled crabs.

They shed their hard shells seasonally....and if you're lucky enough to catch them at that time, all you have to chew through is a kind of inner crispy critter crust.
At least, that's what my friends in Baltimore tell me.

[underpants]

6. Do they shed that stuff inside?

I JUST DON'T KNOW!!

[Sweet Charming Dem]

2. They're the same type of crab

The soft-shell is just one that had shed it's shell.

[underpants]

5. What about the inerts?

:shrug:

[Sweet Charming Dem]

9. I have no idea

I never thought about that. I do eat the green goopy stuff out of hardshell crabs, but not the lungs. But I do eat the whole softshell.

Basically, I got nothing.

[MrScorpio]

3. Do they come by the case, Underpants? nt

[underpants]

4. I have seen them in box form

and in grocery bag form when I lived in Baltimore

Nice free lunch that

[MrScorpio]

7. A sack of crabs beats crabs in the sack nt

[Zoigal]

8. Try fresh Dungeness crab if you're ever on the West Coast...yummmmm....z

[HopeHoops]

10. Nope. Same beasts, different time of year.

[petronius]

11. My googling brings up instructions for cleaning soft-shell crabs

It sounds to me like the gills and other parts are removed before cooking, it's just easier to do while the shell is flexible (you don't have to disassemble the thing like with a hard-shell crab or a lobster)...

One example: http://www.howtodothings.com/home-garden/how-to-clean-soft-shell-crabs

[billyclem]

12. Same beasts, eh. Let's see you do the soft shell thingy

with these bad boys!