channeler n Pronc-sp chandler Chesapeake Bay
A mature male blue crab.
1859 Hungerford Old Plantation 222 Chesapeake Bay, We saw some negro boys chasing crabs in the Channels. . . Sometimes a sudden shriek, followed by mingled laughter and tones of complaint, showed that the “channelers” had occasionally an opportunity of taking vengeance for their capture. 1876 Lippincott’s Mag. Pop. Lit. & Sci. 18.238 Chesapeake Bay, The surest way to release it [=a snagged line] is to take an old “channeler”—the male crab—and clasp him over it by fastening the fore feet into the joints of the opposite claws. 1905 U.S. Bur. Fisheries Rept. 1904 427 MD, Very often a male and female crab when mating are taken together on a trot line. . . The pair are called “doublers,” or “channeler and his wife.” 1952 Sun (Baltimore MD) 23 June 14/5 Chesapeake Bay, Jimmy Or Chandler Or Channeler—A mature male crab, one that has reached maximum growth and will not shed again.