There really are totally blue crabs found in Virginia

Rare blue crab found in 2021Photo byYoutube screenshot

Some Blue Crabs are actually blue

Blue Crabs can be found in the Commonwealth but usually, the color is not really blue. This was a food in Colonial Virginia for English settlers as well as Native Americans found in the Chesapeake Bay. In 2009, Sally Epps found a crab that was actually blue from a crab pot on the James River near Craney Island.

At that time Professor Rom Lipcius from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) explained that it's rare to find institute crabs that are completely blue. He pointed out that "they have been found previously, as have albino and purple crabs."

Typical blue crab where only feet are bluePhoto byWikipedia

Blue crabs are not poisonous

Most blue crabs have a beige shell and only the legs are blue. The females are distinct because they have red tips on their claws. In 2021 a rare actual blue crab was found by a fisherman and on the video Most Interesting Animals.

Blue crabs are not believed to be poisonous and have been eaten for hundreds of years. The one in the cover photo however does not look to me like it would be very appetizing but I could be wrong.