The Giant Japanese spider crab can generally be found in
the Pacific Ocean around Japan. They can live at depths of 50-300m or 150-1000 feet.
They generally have a dark orange body, with white spots on its legs. In male specimens, the limbs on which the claws are located on become more extended than its legs.
Its eyes are situated on the front, and two thorns stick out between them. Younger specimens feature hair and thorns on the body, and their frontal horns are longer, but these get shorter as they grow older.
The giant spider crab is one of the largest arthropods know to man. They measure up to 3.7 m from the tip of one claw to another. The width of their body usually grows to about 37cm (15inches) They are covered with little nodules called tubercles and most of their size is taken up by their long legs.
Not quite the nicest thing to see crawling up your wall at home though. Below a 12 foot one has been made into an interesting mural !
Giant spider crabs are omnivorous and scavenge for food. They can eat algae, plants, mollusks and small fish. Catching and tearing the meat up in their powerful pincers. Their long legs enable them to move quite quickly and stalk their prey.
They move along the Ocean floor very slowly and subsequently are easy targets for hungry predators that are big enough to attack it. As some form of protection they attach sponges and smaller animals to their shells to divert predators.
The Spider Crab tends to live in Ocean vents or holes that are big enough to take it. They are now hunted by fisherman as their meat is apparently quiet delicious. The spider crab is caught using trawling nets, and is often eaten salted and steamed. It is caught in the Sagami, Tosa and Suruga bays and also around the Izu Islands. During the spring when the crab lays its eggs, the hunting of them is prohibited and most fishermen thankfully obey these rules and the spider crab will not be served as a nice dish until its extinct.
" I'm coming to get ya ! "
I for one won't be swimming inshore in Japanese waters, unless I have one of the bigger varieties of harpoon-gun with me !
Or a big pair of rubber gloves, to hold a baby one, like this guy....
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Is it a spider or is it a crab ?
An ecology student has recently indicated via e-mail that it is indeed from the crab family as it has 10 legs, Decapoda (dec as in 10). The feeding arms presumably have been included in this number, but it doesn't use these 'arms' for walking//crawling on, so the original count of eight legs still holds. As I said in my reply " If I was to crawl on all fours would my arms be counted as legs ? "
A Mr J Harker writes,
As a recent student in the zoology of invertebrates:
"The Japanese Giant Spider Crab is indeed a crab. Spiders are characterised by poisonous fangs (chelicerates) and spinnerets for silk weaving. They also have what are called 'book gills' (folds of tracheae for respiration) and their epicuticle has become waxy. Crabs, however have aquatic gills and even land crabs have to keep these moist to keep breathing. They also require water to breed. Crabs also have a larval stage, whereas spiders do not. the taka-ashi-gani fits more criteria for decapoda ( crabs) than the arachnidan.
Furthermore, the DNA sequence for the giant spider crab is distinctly Crustacean."
Crab Families
Scientists have divided crabs into several families. I have listed them below, along with several examples of each.
Edible Crab (Deliciousidae)
- Dungeness Crab
- Snow Crab
- Edible Crab3
Crabs Large Enough To Be Truly Fearsome And Which Are Therefore Best Avoided (Crabzilladae)
- Coconut crab
- Japanese Spider Crab
Crabs Which Are Too Small To Eat4 (Diminuitividae)
- Thumbnail Crab
- Peekytoe Crab
Crabs Which Are Often More Trouble To Eat Than They Are Worth And Yet Are Widely Touted As The Best Tasting Crabs In The World In A Way That Smacks Of East Coast Elitism (Orientosnobidae)
- "Maryland" Blue Crab
Seasonal And Holiday Crabs (Festivusidae)
- Christmas Island Red Crab
- Halloween Crab
Other Types Of Animals Which Are Not Crabs, But Which Masquerade As Crabs, Often To The Point Of Placing "Crab" In Their Name With Intent To Deceive (Doppelcrabidae)
