Japanese spider crab
From Free net encyclopedia
{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Japanese spider crab | status = Conservation status: Data deficient | image = Spider crab, Underwater World, Singapore.jpg | image_width = 250px | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Arthropoda | subphylum = Crustacea | classis = Malacostraca | ordo = Decapoda | subordo = Pleocyemata | infraordo = Brachyura | superfamilia = Majoidea | familia = Majidae | genus = Macrocheira | species = M. kaempferi | binomial = Macrocheira kaempferi | binomial_authority = Temminck, 1836 }}
The Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi) is the largest crab alive; 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 (44 pounds). The crab's natural habitat is on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean (some 300 m-400 m deep) around Japan, where it feeds on dead animals and shellfish. It is believed to have a life expectancy of up to 100 years.
This particular type of crab is feared by some fishermen and sailors because some of the larger ones have been seen eating the flesh of drowned men. Image:Spider crab at the Kaiyukan in Osaka, Japan.JPG
See also
Template:Crustacean-stubca:Macrocheira kaempferi
da:Macrocheira
de:Japanische Riesenkrabbe
es:Cangrejo gigante japonés
nl:Japanse reuzenkrab
nds:Japaansche Spinnenkrabb
ja:タカアシガニ