"Peter A" > wrote:
>I was served a dozen raw oysters the other day and about half of them
> had small, live crabs in them. On the one hand it was a sign of real
> freshness, but I did not know if this has any relation to the quality of
> the oysters. Crabs aside the oysters looked pretty sad, so I sent them
> back, but I am curious about the crabs.

I run across them occassionally in oysters I shuck myself. At first I was a
little put off by them and tossed them out. After researching what they were, I
decided to cook them along with the poached oysters.Think of them as a miniature
soft shell crab. If I was eating the oysters raw, I might have a different
opinion of them.

It's hard to believe that oyster crabs were once removed at shucking plants and
sold separately. Like Sheldon said, they are considered a delicacy.

Oyster crabs are also known as pea crabs. Here's a reference with a pictu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pea_crab

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