Metacarcinus anthonyi is one of only two species that regularly reach the minimum landing size for crabs in Southern California – the other being Cancer productus – and is the subject of commercial fisheries.

[3] R. antennarium is also caught throughout Southern California commercially[3] Metacarcinus anthonyi is an ecologically important species.

M. anthonyi is both a scavenger and a predator eating anything that the large claws can crush including echinoderms, snails and clams.

[1] The specific epithet commemorates Alfred Webster Anthony, a naturalist working in San Diego.

[6] Metacarcinus anthonyi is harvested by sport and commercial fishermen in California, mostly from Morro Bay south.