The Chesapeake’s most recognizable icon, the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), is one of the significant commercially-harvested species on the East Coast, but this summer, the catches have been incredibly, scarily low.

There is a parasite lurking in the depth of the Bay that could be the source of this summer’s empty crab pots and record-breaking low harvests: hematodinium.  At best, hematodinium can make the meat of the infected crab taste like aspirin, but at worst, the parasite spells large scale crab mortality- something that could have enormous consequences for the ecology of the Chesapeake environment and the watermen that rely on a bountiful harvest. Learn more about the parasite that might stop a crab from reaching your picnic table this summer.