Crab is a fish that can be caught with a Crab Pot in any saltwater body of water. It can also be obtained as a drop from a Rock Crab with a 15% chance or a Lava Crab with a 25% chance when those monsters are slain. Other sources include a pet turtle at maximum friendship, the Traveling Cart, and purchasing five from Elliott’s shop during the Desert Festival for Calico Eggs. Like all Crab Pot catches, it cannot be eaten raw, but it can still be used in cooking recipes or smoked.
Crab can be placed in a Fish Pond, where it reproduces every 3 days. A new pond starts with a capacity of 3, and it can be expanded to 10 through three quests. The first expansion requires 5 Clay and grants 35 Fishing XP, the second requires either 10 Bug Meat or 5 Quartz and grants 35 Fishing XP, and the third requires 1 Sea Urchin, 5 Solar Essence, or 1 Wild Bait and grants 35 Fishing XP. Once the pond is established, it produces a mix of Crab Roe, Seaweed, and trash items, with more valuable outputs becoming possible once the population reaches 5 or higher.
At low population, the pond mainly generates Roe, Seaweed, trash, Driftwood, Broken Glasses, Broken CD, and Soggy Newspaper, with a large share of empty days. At higher population levels, Coral, Sea Urchin, Warp Totem: Beach, and Nautilus Shell can also appear. Crab Roe is the main valuable product, and the daily chance of producing items generally improves as the population rises. A fully populated pond also enables the chance to receive a Pearl from Willy the next time he is spoken to.
Crab also has a few useful crafting and dye applications:
It can be used in the Sewing Machine spool to make the dyeable Sailor Shirt.
It serves as a red dye item in the dye pots at Emily and Haley’s house at 2 Willow Lane.
A small behavior note: after a Rock Crab drops a Crab, the item bounces around until it is picked up. This makes it easy to spot if the drop lands in a crowded area or near other debris.
