What is a spider crab?

Question

if you know please can you tell me?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

it is a bizarre species of crab

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Asker's Comment:

good answer

Answer 2

Spider crabs are crabs that look like spiders. See link below for examples.

Source(s):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_crab

Answer 3

It is a sea crab. Very long narrow legs, considering the legs it is the largest crab and can span over 3 meters.

Looks more like spider than crab.

Answer 4

The Common Spider Crab (Libinia emarginata)
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum: Crustacea

Class: Malacostraca

Order: Decapoda

Infraorder: Brachyura

Superfamily: Majoidea

Family: Majidae

This slow-walking scavenger is found along the entire East Coast. Harmless to humans and not particularly aggressive in general, the spider crab's main defense against predators is camouflage: the hook-like hairs on the crab's shell (carapace) hold algae and other small debris in place.

Any species of sluggish marine crab in the widely distributed family Majidae (or Maiidae). Spider crabs have a beak-shaped head; thick, rounded body; and long, spindly legs. They use a mucuslike mouth secretion to fasten algae, sponges, and other organisms to the hairs, spines, and knobby projections covering the body. Most species are scavengers, especially of carrion. Their size varies greatly. The body of the European long-beaked spider crab (Macropodia rostrata) is less than 0.5 in. (1 cm) in diameter, whereas the Japanese giant crab (Macrocheira kaempferi), whose outstretched claws can measure 13 ft (4 m) from tip to tip, is perhaps the largest known arthropod.

The Japanese spider crab, Macrocheira kaempferi, is the largest living arthropod; fully grown it can reach a leg span of almost 4 m (13 feet), a body size of up to 37 cm (15 inches) and a weight of up to 20 kg

Answer 5

I would have thought that the name it self would have given it away . It is obviously a crab with long legs no unlike a spider.

Answer 6

There are 4 kinds of spider crabs.
1)Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi), the largest crab alive, found on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean
2)Portly spider crab (Libinia emarginata), a species of crab found in estuarine habitats on the east coast of North America
3)Hyas, a genus of spider crabs, including the great spider crab (Hyas araneus), found in the Atlantic and the North Sea
4)Maja squinado, sometimes called the "European spider crab"
5)The Common Spider Crab (Libinia emarginata)
This slow-walking scavenger is found along the entire East Coast. Harmless to humans and not particularly aggressive in general, the spider crab's main defense against predators is camouflage: the hook-like hairs on the crab's shell.(carapace) hold algae and other small debris in place.

Source(s):

Here are some pictures of the spider crab.
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/communic/endeav…
http://www.tnaqua.org/Newsroom/HighRes/J…

Answer 7

this can refer to different species of crab:

* Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi), the largest crab alive, found on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean
* Portly spider crab (Libinia emarginata), a species of crab found in estuarine habitats on the east coast of North America
* Hyas, a genus of spider crabs, including the great spider crab (Hyas araneus), found in the Atlantic and the North Sea
* Maja squinado, sometimes called the "European spider crab"