Callinectes sapidus (from the Greek = “beautiful”, = “swimmer”, and Latin = “savory”), the blue crab, Atlantic blue crab, or regionally as the Chesapeake blue crab, is a species of crab native to the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and introduced internationally. C. sapidus is of significant culinary and economic importance in the United States, particularly in Louisiana, Chesapeake Bay and New Jersey. It is the Maryland state crustacean and is the state’s largest commercial fishery.