Dead men

Remove eyes, dead men (gills), and sand sack if necessary.

“I call these the lungs,” says Colleton, pointing to the gills with the dripping, short-handled knife. “The old people call them ‘dead men.’”

Once the shell is off, the crab’s gills or lungs, variously called “devil’s fingers” or “dead men” are exposed. These are gray-white, feathery-looking parts that are inedible and must be scraped off and thrown away.