The biggest crabs in the world. Crab spider. Giant Japanese crab spider. Yellow crab-like spider Giant sea spider
Not always insects and invertebrates look harmless. Some of them look like this. This list is quite subjective, but I think many will agree with it.
10 Giant isopod
What is most unnerving about this isopod is that it resembles the common woodlice. The giant isopod lives in the ocean at a depth of 200 m to 2000 m. While the common woodlouse reaches a length of 1-2 cm, the giant isopod grows up to 60 cm. There are several species of isopod, of which Bathynomus is the most famous. The isopod appeared about 160 million years ago and has changed little since then. Since these invertebrates are scavengers, they will not harm humans. Keeping them in an aquarium is not at all interesting because of their slow lifestyle.
9 Japanese spider crab
The Japanese spider crab has the longest legs of any arthropod. The largest American lobsters can compete with these crabs in weight, but not in length. The spider crab is omnivorous and will eat anything it can grab with its large claws. There are various disputes about why they developed such long limbs, most likely this allows them to move faster. It was reported on the Internet that crabs were also seen on land, but this is almost unbelievable, since it is very difficult for them to move out of the water.
8 Giant ueta
The giant ueta living in New Zealand is the heaviest insect in the world. The largest weighed 71 g, and some reach 8 inches (20.32 cm). This is an example of island gigantism. The giant ueta feeds on plants, but its powerful jaws can also bite seriously. But this is unlikely. The giant ueta lives only on Little Barrier Island. However, other species are common throughout New Zealand.
7 Locust
Locusts are giant grasshoppers, there is practically no difference between them, only in swarming and size. These are very annoying creatures! When flying, they make a buzzing sound and when they land on your clothes, they cling to it so that they cannot be torn off. It is very unpleasant to be in their swarm. Locust swarms usually number in the billions, eating millions of tons of crops along the way.
6 Arctic cyanoea
The length of the largest cyanide is 37 m from the dome to the tips of the tentacles. The diameter of the dome can reach 2 m. Long tentacles catch small animals, but can also be a refuge for shrimps. Cyanea is not dangerous to humans, but a rash and an allergy can appear from its bite. The larger the jellyfish grow, the darker their color becomes, the largest specimens have a dark bloody color. Like all jellyfish, cyanides drift with the current and can only shorten their canopy slightly to stay closer to the surface.
5 Goliath tarantula
It is the heaviest known spider, weighing up to 180 g. They were considered the largest spiders in the world before the giant hunter was discovered in Laos. The Goliath is more common and can be kept as an exotic pet. It is known as a tarantula as it occasionally preys on small birds as well as small mammals and lizards. The diet of the tarantula includes, in most cases, insects, however, these spiders can bite humans, and their bite is poisonous. In case of danger, Goliath makes a hissing sound, rubbing his legs together. In this way, the spider leaves its hairs, which can be very annoying.
4 Giant sea spider
Little is known about sea spiders. The giant sea spider is the largest representative of these organisms, about 30 cm long. These are not real spiders, although they are somewhat related to them. Their bodies are so small that some of their organs are in their legs and gonads. The intestinal tract is littered with sacs that reach down to the legs, where food is digested. Sea spiders feed on cnidarians by sucking out their insides with a sharp proboscis.
3 Asian giant hornet
The giant hornet is the most dangerous animal in Japan. Any bite is very painful and can be fatal even to people who do not suffer from allergies. At almost 5 cm long, these hornets look very intimidating when they fly near your face. They kill other insects and destroy bee hives by crushing the bees with their jaws before eating all the honey and carrying the bee bellies to their larvae. However, Japanese bees have protection from hornets. When they detect the enemy, they surround him and sting in the muscles responsible for flight. Which is what kills the hornet.
2 Giant centipede
The Amazonian giant centipede is the first invertebrate capable of causing real harm to humans. It lives in the north of South America and several islands. The centipede preys on insects, spiders, lizards, frogs, birds, mice, and bats. There is something creepy about an invertebrate preying on vertebrates. The centipede moves quickly and is not afraid of humans. Its bite is very painful, but not fatal.
1 colossal squid
What could be bigger than a giant squid? Only the colossal squid, considered the heaviest cephalopod and also the largest invertebrate. For a long time, stories about the giant squid were considered just marine stories. Now several species are known, both giant squid and colossal. The National New Zealand Museum in Wellington is hosting an exhibition where you can see a 10-meter copy. And it's not the biggest. This squid was caught in 2007 by fishermen in the Antarctic Ocean. Colossal squids use bioluminescence to attract fish.
Not always insects and invertebrates look harmless. Some of them look like this. This list is quite subjective, but I think many will agree with it.
10 Giant isopod
What is most unnerving about this isopod is that it resembles the common woodlice.(Collapse)
The giant isopod lives in the ocean at a depth of 200 m to 2000 m. While the common woodlouse reaches a length of 1-2 cm, the giant isopod grows up to 60 cm. There are several species of isopod, of which Bathynomus is the most famous. The isopod appeared about 160 million years ago and has changed little since then. Since these invertebrates are scavengers, they will not harm humans. Keeping them in an aquarium is not at all interesting because of their slow lifestyle.
9 Japanese spider crab
The Japanese spider crab has the longest legs of any arthropod. The largest American lobsters can compete with these crabs in weight, but not in length. The spider crab is omnivorous and will eat anything it can grab with its large claws. There are various disputes about why they developed such long limbs, most likely this allows them to move faster. It was reported on the Internet that crabs were also seen on land, but this is almost unbelievable, since it is very difficult for them to move out of the water.
8 Giant ueta
The giant ueta living in New Zealand is the heaviest insect in the world. The largest weighed 71 g, and some reach 8 inches (20.32 cm). This is an example of island gigantism. The giant ueta feeds on plants, but its powerful jaws can also bite seriously. But this is unlikely. The giant ueta lives only on Little Barrier Island. However, other species are common throughout New Zealand.
7 Locust
Locusts are giant grasshoppers, there is practically no difference between them, only in swarming and size. These are very annoying creatures! When flying, they make a buzzing sound and when they land on your clothes, they cling to it so that they cannot be torn off. It is very unpleasant to be in their swarm. Locust swarms usually number in the billions, eating millions of tons of crops along the way.
6 Arctic cyanoea
The length of the largest cyanide is 37 m from the dome to the tips of the tentacles. The diameter of the dome can reach 2 m. Long tentacles catch small animals, but can also be a refuge for shrimps. Cyanea is not dangerous to humans, but a rash and an allergy can appear from its bite. The larger the jellyfish grow, the darker their color becomes, the largest specimens have a dark bloody color. Like all jellyfish, cyanides drift with the current and can only shorten their canopy slightly to stay closer to the surface.
5 Goliath tarantula
It is the heaviest known spider, weighing up to 180 g. They were considered the largest spiders in the world before the giant hunter was discovered in Laos. The Goliath is more common and can be kept as an exotic pet. It is known as a tarantula as it occasionally preys on small birds as well as small mammals and lizards. The diet of the tarantula includes, in most cases, insects, however, these spiders can bite humans, and their bite is poisonous. In case of danger, Goliath makes a hissing sound, rubbing his legs together. In this way, the spider leaves its hairs, which can be very annoying.
4 Giant sea spider
Little is known about sea spiders. The giant sea spider is the largest representative of these organisms, about 30 cm long. These are not real spiders, although they are somewhat related to them. Their bodies are so small that some of their organs are in their legs and gonads. The intestinal tract is littered with sacs that reach down to the legs, where food is digested. Sea spiders feed on cnidarians by sucking out their insides with a sharp proboscis.
3 Asian giant hornet
The giant hornet is the most dangerous animal in Japan. Any bite is very painful and can be fatal even to people who do not suffer from allergies. At almost 5 cm long, these hornets look very intimidating when they fly near your face. They kill other insects and destroy bee hives by crushing the bees with their jaws before eating all the honey and carrying the bee bellies to their larvae. However, Japanese bees have protection from hornets. When they detect the enemy, they surround him and sting in the muscles responsible for flight. Which is what kills the hornet.
2 Giant centipede
The Amazonian giant centipede is the first invertebrate capable of causing real harm to humans. It lives in the north of South America and several islands. The centipede preys on insects, spiders, lizards, frogs, birds, mice, and bats. There is something creepy about an invertebrate preying on vertebrates. The centipede moves quickly and is not afraid of humans. Its bite is very painful, but not fatal.
1 colossal squid
What could be bigger than a giant squid? Only the colossal squid, considered the heaviest cephalopod and also the largest invertebrate. For a long time, stories about the giant squid were considered just marine stories. Now several species are known, both giant squid and colossal. The National New Zealand Museum in Wellington is hosting an exhibition where you can see a 10-meter specimen. And it's not the biggest. This squid was caught in 2007 by fishermen in the Antarctic Ocean. Colossal squids use bioluminescence to attract fish.
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 crabs, blue and king crabs, Japanese spider crabs and many other relatives can in some cases 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 known species of crabs and a single individual named Claude - the main contender for the title of the largest representative of crustaceans on Earth.
The largest types of crabs
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:
- king crabs
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 is the 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 and Mediterranean Seas. They live up to thirty years, while reaching a weight of up to three kilograms.
These animals are considered the largest arthropods of 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.
At the moment, 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.
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 do not go 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 world's largest cancer.
This giant crab, which was called the arthropod spider crab, is quite similar in appearance to a spider - for which it was named so. 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. One can appreciate its large size simply by comparing its claws and the hand of an adult. 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.
Crabs belong to the class Higher crayfish, type Arthropods, detachment. You can meet these animals on our planet everywhere. Crabs have five pairs of limbs. The first of them has long turned into quite powerful claws. The sizes of these animals depend on the species. Usually, the width of the arthropod shell varies from two to thirty centimeters.
Variety of species
On European coasts, land crabs are the most common. They can be found on the surf strip with soft ground. The swimming crab also lives there. In this animal, the last pair of limbs is small blades. Crabs of this species are excellent swimmers. They get their food from the water. The closest relative of these two species is the Chinese crab. The spider, also known as a giant crab, lives near the Japanese islands in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The largest arthropod
The Japanese spider crab belongs to the Majidae family. The scientific name of the arthropod in Latin is Macrocheira kaempferi. His crab received in honor of Engelbert Kaempfer, a German naturalist and traveler. This crustacean was first described in 1836 by Konrad Jacob Temminck, a Dutch zoologist.
The Japanese spider crab (see photo below) is the largest of all arthropods.
The largest individuals of this species of crabs have a carapace length of up to forty-five centimeters. At the same time, they are owners of rather long legs. It should be said that the span of the first pair can reach three meters. Such a crab is equipped with forty-centimeter claws. They serve as a powerful weapon for the arthropod. There are individuals whose maximum body length with legs reaches four meters.
The chest and head of the Japanese crab are covered with a short and flat carapace ending in a sharp rostrum. Protection of the arthropod is provided by numerous spines and tubercles. They are located at the top of the carapace. The weight of these giants is often twenty kilograms.
At the depth of the ocean there is a high pressure created by the water column. However, the shell of a giant crab is protected from indentation by a layer of durable chitin.
The joints of the legs of the animal are arranged in a special way. They allow him to move only sideways. The surfaces of the cartilage in the joint are very smooth. This greatly reduces friction.
Japanese spider crab - possessing an orange body. His legs are adorned with white spots. The eyes of a crab are located on the front of the head. Two spikes stick out between them.
Nutrition and reproduction
The Japanese spider crab performs the same work on the ocean floor as it does on land. It feeds on the skeletons of dead animals, mollusks and plants.
It is believed that this arthropod can live up to a hundred years. Individuals of this species are found at a depth of one hundred and fifty to eight hundred meters. With the onset of spring, crabs rise closer to the surface. At this time, they can be found at a depth of fifty meters. Why is this happening? It is at this depth that crabs are engaged in the continuation of their kind. During this period, there is a ban on catching them.
During spawning, one female can lay one and a half million eggs. However, only a small number can survive to reproductive age. Small crabs are hunted by predatory inhabitants of the ocean. Those individuals that are larger become human prey. The Japanese spider crab is capable of reproducing offspring from the age of ten.
Eating
As well as possible, this delicacy product is suitable for those who want to get rid of extra pounds. Coarse fibers, which are found in large quantities in crab meat, help in this process. The product is rich in taurine, iodine, vitamins and many other elements beneficial to human health.
The giant Japanese crab is often caught for food purposes. Only young individuals who did not have time to give offspring are suitable for fishing. The meat of such crabs is considered very tender. It is a delicacy everywhere. Unfortunately, the capture of these arthropods affects the reduction of their population.
And now for the adults. Due to the fact that their diet consists of shellfish, carrion and everything that is at great depths, the meat of such spider crabs acquires a bitter taste. Therefore, it is not suitable for gastronomic purposes. If such a copy gets into the net of fishermen, then it is sold to a terrarium or a water park to the delight of visitors.
Record crab
Most recently, a huge specimen of this arthropod species was caught. He was given the nickname Crab-Kong. The size of this instance in diameter is three meters. The distance between the claws exceeds 240 cm. But this crab will still grow. When he becomes an adult, he can easily ride a car.
Caught in fishing nets southwest of Tokyo, in the Suruga Bay area. Due to the fact that the gastronomic qualities of the meat of this animal are highly valued, initially the fishermen planned to make soup from it. However, the crab was lucky. The fishermen contacted Robin James, a biologist who recently visited their village.
Crab Kong is currently kept at the Weymouth Sea Life Park, which is located in the English city of Weysmouth. This fifteen-kilogram monster is the largest crab ever kept in captivity.
Crab Kong, which is a real miracle of the deep, will not stay in Weysmouth for long. After some time, it is planned to be transported to Munich and placed in the Sea Life center.
Despite the fact that this specimen is considered the largest of those kept in captivity, it is believed that the Japanese spider crab can reach such sizes when the distance between its claws exceeds three and a half meters.
A young spider crab can only grow if it sheds its hard outer shell. Under it is a soft inner one, which the arthropod must have time to inflate before hardening.
In the event that a crab is accidentally left without a leg, it will certainly grow a new one. Sometimes spider crabs are washed ashore by sea waves. If an animal is entangled in a dam between stones, then it will not be able to survive.