[3][4][5] Its typical range extends from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to Point Conception, near Santa Barbara, California.

[4] Dungeness typically grow 6–7 in (150–180 mm) at their widest point and inhabit eelgrass beds and sandy bottoms.

[7] Dungeness crabs have four pairs of armored legs, two claws, and a wide, hard shell.

A Dungeness's legs are shorter compared to other commercial crabs[7] and their claws have a distinctive hook.

Once inside the crab's stomach, food is further digested by the "gastric mill", a collection of tooth-like structures [citation needed].

A genetic analysis of adult Dungeness crabs indicated that there is one population across the California Current System, but it is likely that interannual variation in physical oceanographic conditions (such as ocean circulation patterns) influence larval recruitment among regions, causing genetic diversity to change through time.

[10]Mature female crabs generally molt in late spring, although exact timing varies with location.

In this embrace, the female is tucked underneath the male, oriented such that their abdomens touch and their heads face each other.

[3][9] The females extrude the fertilized eggs and hold them in specialized hair located on their tail flap.

[3][9] Young crabs are free-swimming after hatching and are diel vertical migrators that can be found at depths up to 80 ft (24 m) during the day.

[9] The typical range of the Dungeness extends from Alaska's Aleutian Islands to Point Conception, near Santa Barbara, California.

[4] Occasionally, the crab can be found as far south as Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

[4] Around this time regulations were put in place to allow only hard-shelled male crabs that were at least 6 in (150 mm) inches at their widest point.

[4] The crabbing season is generally open from November or December to late August or early September.

[3][7] Crabs typically reach legal size at three to five years depending on location (Alaska has much slower growth).

[12] In Alaska, these closures are due to population decreases likely caused by increased otter predation and environmental shifts.

This is likely due to the regulations put in place that allow crabs at least one year of sexual maturity before capture.

[4] In California, Alaska, and Washington, research is minimal and information about populations is assumed from catch records.

[4] Ghost fishing can entangle marine mammals, cause crab death, and harm the ecosystem.

[13][14] Long before the area was settled by Europeans, Indigenous peoples throughout the crustacean's range had the crab as a traditional part of their diet and harvested them every year at low tide.

[16] Today they are an integral part of the cuisines of California, British Columbia, and the Pacific Northwest and traditionally feature in dishes like Crab Louie or Cioppino.

Cleaning the crab consists of removing the shell, scooping out the gills and intestines, and separating the legs and claws from the body.

Many consider half backing to be superior to cooking the entire crab, because the meat is not contaminated by the flavor or toxins of the guts.

The hyposaline conditions of the estuaries are lethal to some of the crab's symbionts, such as Carcinonemertes errans which consumes a brooding female's live eggs.

Dungeness crabs surveyed in Coos Bay were less likely to be infected by C. errans and have fewer worms present on their carapace when inhabiting less saline waters farther inland.