Incredible Facts
However, as stated Paul Clark(Paul Clark), expert from Museum of Natural History in London, this the photo is nothing more than a hoax.
He makes the following arguments:
1. The biggest crab in the world counts japanese spider crab (macrocheira kaempferi), which can grow to the size of a small car.
With a leg span, it can reach 4 meters. However, these crabs live in deep, cold waters near Japan and have a completely different shape.
2. Another crab whose shape is similar to the one shown in the picture is giant tasmanian crab (Pseudocarcinus gigas). These are the heaviest crabs in the world that live in southern waters Australia at a depth of 20-820 meters.
3. Also, this crab does not belong to the representatives of the species pocket crab (Cancer pagurus) which has a slightly different shape, and it grows up to 30 cm.
4. The crab is most similar to the representative grass crab (Carcinus maenas), which was placed on a satellite image using Photoshop. These crabs grow up to only 5 cm.
5. Also, several users pointed out that the picture of the harbor was taken from Bing Maps where there is no crab.
Speaking of crabs, we usually imagine small creatures whose dimensions do not even exceed the size of a human palm. But this is far from the case: out of approximately 6,800 known (at the time of 2017) species, hardly half are “babies”. Large land, blue and king crabs, Japanese spider crabs and many of their other relatives in some cases can reach a meter in length. Their weight in this case ranges from five to twenty kilograms. And their close relatives, such as the palm thief (coconut crayfish), reaching forty centimeters in length, are not far behind in size. Given this, it is safe to say that the crab must be a really big creature. In this article, you will learn about the largest of known species crabs and a single individual named Claude - the main contender for the title the largest representative crustaceans on earth.
Before talking about the largest individual, it is worthwhile to figure out what species it could belong to. To do this, we will tell you about the giants of the arthropod world. So, they most often include the following types:
This is one of the most famous arthropod species in the world - at least, because it is its representatives that are most often eaten. These animals live in the Far Eastern waters: the Sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan, the Bering Sea and the Barents Sea. Moreover, in the last they were brought intentionally, to artificially increase the range. Near the coasts of Kamchatka, the population of these crustaceans is most impressive. That is why the second name of this species - king crab. Its representatives feed on gastropods.
This species, like the previous one, is commercial. Other well-known species names are large land crab or edible crab. The diet of brown crabs includes smaller crustaceans and mollusks (mainly blue mussels). These animals live in the Atlantic, and according to some sources in the Black, mediterranean seas. They live up to thirty years, while reaching a weight of up to three kilograms.
These animals are considered the largest arthropods in the whole world: the span of their paws can reach three meters, and the body size, excluding legs, can be up to forty-five centimeters. The sum of the length of the body and legs in the largest individuals of this species is about four meters. These huge animals feed on carrion, plants and mollusks. The exact lifespan is unknown, but it is believed to be in the range of 100 years.
Now, having dealt with the classification a little, we will talk about the largest crab in the world. It belongs to the giant Tasmanian spider crabs. It was caught by fishermen off the coast of Australia. According to measurements taken in 2016, the width of its carapace was thirty-eight centimeters, and the weight was about seven kilograms.
On the this moment In the world, the crab lives in the Sea Life Aquarium (Weymouth, UK), whose employees bought it for $5,000, and is a kind of local attraction. It is already officially the largest crab in England, but it is still far from the title of truly the largest individual in the world - at the moment it is only the largest registered crab. Although, given that Claude (as the aquarium staff calls him) is still very young, he still has enough time to grow up to this honorary title - individuals of his species live, on average, up to twenty years.
These animals are classified as arthropods, class - crustaceans. The crab has five pairs of limbs, one pair is transformed into claws, they are more powerful and larger than the other limbs, sometimes this pair has significant asymmetry. This happens because in the course of rival fights, or defending his life, the crab loses one claw. A new one grows in its place.
The crab has a muscle, which at a certain moment begins to contract strongly and the tissue is torn. Large blood loss does not occur, the blood stops quickly.
Different crabs have legs of different shapes and sizes. Some have the last pair in the form of oars - they help with swimming.
The body shape of crabs is special - it was given the name - crab-shaped. Sometimes it is more rounded, sometimes square or triangle-like. The body is slightly flattened, the abdomen smoothly passes into the so-called cephalothorax. This name is formed due to the fusion of the head and chest parts of the body. Above are pronounced eyes on stalked processes.
The body is covered with a hard cover - chitinous cuticle, it contains organic matter- chitin. The cover of chitin serves as an external skeleton for the crab. He protects internal organs animal from various external influences. During the molting period, the crab shell becomes soft. Under it, a new, durable cover is formed, and the old one, the animal discards. The shell has a name - carapace, its size, shape are different, depending on the type of crab.
At the moment of molting, the crab experiences a large expenditure of energy.
Moves with the help of four pairs of hind limbs. Crabs have a special gait, they do not move straight, but sideways. Despite this mode of movement, crabs can run quite fast. So, for example, an ordinary grass crab develops a speed of up to 1 m / s. Swimming crabs swing their chest legs (from the second to the fourth pair) up to 780 per minute.
There are many varieties of crabs - 6,780 species. By far the largest is Japanese spider crab. Its size reaches 3 meters (abdomen across). Its legs are like spiders - thin and long.
Crabs can be found in the sea and on land, as well as in oceans and fresh water.
Food is different for different types, mainly algae, small crustaceans and fish, bivalves, larvae, worms. Crabs are scavengers, so they do not disdain the remains of animals. Food, crabs take claws and bring to the mouth.
Reproduction occurs by laying eggs. The mating season comes after the winter migration and molting of crabs. Females are considered sexually mature when they reach 8 years old, and males - 10 years old.
The mating process takes place on seabed where males arrive first, females a little later. The female crab lays her eggs on her ventral legs. She can lay up to 40,000 eggs at one time. The male fertilizes the eggs, and the female goes to shallow water. Egg gestation lasts almost a year.
After the eggs mature, the larvae hatch. Baby crabs go through many stages of development before becoming full-fledged crabs.
During the growth period, the cub is forced to periodically shed its shell. At this moment, he is especially vulnerable to predators, so he needs to hide.
Crabs are in danger almost everywhere. These are squids, cuttlefish and other animals that hunt them. How can they defend themselves?
Despite their small size and defenseless appearance, crabs have learned to defend their lives.
For example, a crab that lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans– Daldorfia horrida, is a master of disguise. His body, like the seabed, has all sorts of outgrowths, spikes. Plus, it's poisonous.
But the twilight hairy crab helps to remain invisible, its furry cover. Long hairs growing on the body of this crustacean trap large particles - grains of sand, silt, grass. You will not immediately understand what it is - an animal, part of the bottom or coral.
The color of crabs is bright and not very bright. There are species that do not have anything special - brown shades, a standard form, but there are non-type specimens. These include the Madagascar freshwater crab. It has a pronounced body shape, multi-colored and bright color - its body and a pair of claws are bright yellow. The remaining four pairs of long legs are pink.
The clown pebble crab has a catchy bright color, its body is painted with a variety of patterns. It is beautiful, but danger lies behind beauty - this small crab, the size of a five-ruble coin, is very poisonous.
Non-poisonous crabs are harvested for human consumption. Crab fishing accounts for 20% of the total turnover of seafood. Crabs are harvested by hand, either with nets or crab traps. Crab meat is used in cooking. It is rich in protein and vitamins.
Crabs and crayfish are seafood delicacies that can be enjoyed in many restaurants around the world. However, not all caught marine inhabitants go to the table to a person - sometimes fishermen manage to catch such huge specimens of these arthropods that are not sent to restaurant kitchens and food production, but live in aquariums and amaze visitors with their size. Let's see where the world's largest crab is found, and what it's called.
The largest crab in the world is the so-called spider crab, which has a rather impressive size. In circumference, the shell of a representative of arthropods and a relative of crustaceans reaches about 1.5 meters. The limbs of a spider crab in a straightened form reach four meters.
The claws themselves can grow up to 40 centimeters (in males, females are owners of smaller claws). The weight of such a crab in adult form is about 20 kilograms, which greatly exceeds the weight of the largest cancer in the world.
The giant crab, which was named the arthropod spider crab, appearance quite similar to a spider - for this it was so named. The description of this creature was given back in 1727 by the German scientist Engelbert Kampfer - from that moment on, Western scientists began to have an idea about this arthropod that lives in the Sea of Japan and most often at a depth of over 400 meters.
The spider crab reaches puberty by the age of 10, and until that time it lives at shallower depths, therefore it is often attacked by predators and poachers. Every year the number of this species of arthropods is getting smaller, so the giant crab needs human protection.
And off the coast of Australia, they managed to catch another large crab - the Tasmanian king crab, whose weight was about 7 kilograms, which is an order of magnitude more than the weight of its relatives. The shell of this crab is 38 centimeters in diameter.
In another way, this marine inhabitant is also called the red king crab. You can rate it big sizes by simply comparing his claws and an adult's hand. But despite the fact that the king crab is much smaller than the spider crab, you can see how large and impressive it is.
This arthropod was lucky - they didn’t eat it in a restaurant and didn’t make crab sticks out of it, but gave it a wonderful life. In the city of Weymouth, there is a Sea Life Aquarium, whose employees bought the giant from Australian fishermen for $5,000. A representative of the arthropods was delivered to the aquarium by plane - as a result, the crab had to spend 29 hours in the air.
Now this big crab, who was named Claude, lives in comfortable conditions and pleases those who come to see him. Aquarium specialists carefully care for a large arthropod, creating for it all the conditions for growth and life. And by the way, such crabs live for about 20 years.
Some live in the sea, others live on land. The similarity of forms is all that unites them. The name of the same name - the crab spider - given to completely different animals, introduces some confusion. Among them are bright representative crustaceans of enormous size. There are also miniature individuals related to arachnids.
The giant spider crab is the largest crustacean in the world. Its first description was made by Japanese naturalists in the 17th century. Western scientists got to know him only in 1727, after the publication of the German biologist E. Kampfer. Somewhat later this huge marine life will be given the name Macrocheira kaempferi, consonant with the name of the German naturalist who told the world about its existence.
The Japanese spider crab is incredibly huge. The span of the stretched limbs of individuals resembling the structure of spiders approaches 4 meters. And this is with a relatively small body. The cephalothorax of the "monsters" reaches a diameter of 37-60 centimeters. The mass of adult specimens approaches 20 kilograms. Females are slightly inferior in weight to males. Crabs have powerful weapon- claws growing up to 40 centimeters in length.
The Pacific waters surrounding the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu are home to these fantastic arthropods. Sometimes they enter the Russian Far Eastern possessions. Adult crab spiders have mastered the upper territories of the continental slope. Here they go deep into 300-400 meters. They feed on shellfish and fish.
The crab spider reaches sexual maturity by 10 years. With the onset of spring, adults begin migration, moving to coastal waters. There they give birth to their numerous offspring. Each female spawns over 1.5 million larvae. Only a small part of them will survive. The life expectancy of these crustaceans is 50 years. Although there are individual specimens that live up to 100 years.
The quality of meat in adult crab spiders is low. On the great depths dead animals become their staple food. Because of this, the meat is bitter. Adult "monsters" are caught in isolated cases. They are placed in aquariums and shown to aquarium visitors.
Young people are another matter. The meat of young crab spiders is tender. It is classified as a delicacy. Catching the young is not difficult at all. Abode of crabs - coastal waters. Here, hunters set traps with bait, where individuals who have not gained enough life experience come across without any problems.
Thus, a significant number of young animals are exterminated before reaching maturity and without giving offspring. This raises serious concerns among experts. They are sure that the giant crab spider is in danger. If no measures are taken to protect it, the population will quickly decrease to a critical number, or even disappear altogether.
This animal has nothing to do with crustaceans. This is a representative of arachnids from the side walker family, which includes about 2000 varieties. These species are so named because of the characteristic manner of movement.
These spiders do not spin webs. Their weapons are their front paws and the ability to disguise themselves. Almost all the time the yellow crab spider spends on flowers, watching for prey. It does not threaten a person in any way.
Male and female individuals differ in color and size. Females are small - only 10 mm in length. And the males are tiny compared to them. Their body length is only 4 mm.
The white or yellowish abdomen of males is decorated with long dark stripes. Their head is black. The forelimbs are painted with brown and black stripes. The hind legs have the same color as the abdomen. Females "flaunt" in bright outfits of green and yellow shades. Their sides are often painted with red stripes.
A yellow crab-like spider has taken over a vast territory stretching from the subtropics to arctic zone. It is found in the lands of Alaska, the USA, Japan and Portugal. All of Europe, with the exception of Iceland, became his abode. He lives on open areas, tightened large quantity flowering plants.
The flower crab spider guards its prey on flowers. Depending on the color of the inflorescences, it also changes its own pigmentation. Only adults are capable of such disguise. Eyes help them control body color.
These arthropods are real hunters. They feed on a variety of pollinators: butterflies, bees, wasps, hoverflies, and small bugs. Often prey is much larger than the most insidious predator.
Having waited for the victim to lower its head into the stamens, the yellow spider attacks it, spreading its front legs wide. He bites the captured prey by the neck. Poison bites instantly kill the victim.
Thanks to the ability to skillfully disguise, the crab spider goes unnoticed, being in close proximity to its prey. He prefers to hunt on plants with yellow or white inflorescences, so his body has the same shade. Ranunculaceae and leucanthemum are his favorite hunting flowers.
However, according to scientists, the yellow color of spiders is just special case. In fact, the color can be any, the main thing is that it matches the color of the plants.
The mating season for yellow spiders begins in the summer. Males find a suitable female and mate with her. Having completed the mating, the male leaves. Females are engaged in hanging cocoons with eggs, fixing them on the sides of the inflorescences. The young hibernate underground.
