GLOUCESTER POINT, Va. (WAVY) - Until now you could see them only on local menus, but stone crabs are now showing up in local waters.

Researchers at Virginia Institute of Marine Science are studying five of them caught by crabbers off Willoughby Spit in Norfolk.

"It has never been documented for Chesapeake Bay. They're found in North Carolina and South. They're abundant in Florida and the Caribbean," said Professor Rom Lipcius, who's been studying marine life for 40+ years and calls the discovery "very exciting."

Lipcius says climate change has caused the stone crab to expand its range northward.

"Because of warming temperatures, we have various species that are now moving farther north," he said.

And they didn't crab-walk their way from North Carolina. "They're not moving in as juveni

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