Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Crabs vary in size from the pea crab, a few millimeters wide, to the Japanese spider crab, with a leg span up to 4 m (13 ft). [6] Several other groups of crustaceans with similar appearances – such as king crabs and porcelain crabs – are not true crabs, but have evolved features similar to true crabs through a process known as carcinisation .
Chionoecetes opilio, a species of snow crab, also known as opilio crab or opies, is a predominantly epifaunal crustacean native to shelf depths in the northwest Atlantic Ocean and north Pacific Ocean. It is a well-known commercial species of Chionoecetes, often caught with traps or by trawling.
Because of their large size, the taste of their meat, and their status as a delicacy, some species of king crabs are caught and sold as food. [17] [8] [7] Red (Paralithodes camtschaticus) and blue (Paralithodes platypus) king crabs are heavily targeted by commercial fisheries in Alaska and have been for several decades.
Blue crab escaping from the net along the Core Banks of North Carolina.. Callinectes sapidus (from the Ancient Greek κάλλος,"beautiful" + nectes, "swimmer", and Latin sapidus, "savory"), the blue crab, Atlantic blue crab, or, regionally, the Maryland blue crab, is a species of crab native to the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and introduced internationally.
The average size caught by fishermen is a legspan of 1.0–1.2 m (3 ft 3 in – 3 ft 11 in). [17] Populations of this species of crab have diminished over recent years and many efforts are being made to protect them. [23]
Hermit crab species range in size and shape, from species only a few millimeters long to Coenobita brevimanus (Indos Crab), which can approach the size of a coconut and live 12–70 years. The shell-less hermit crab Birgus latro (coconut crab) is the world's largest terrestrial invertebrate .
Some species of terrestrial crabs can be found many kilometres from the sea, but have to complete annual migrations to the sea. [3] For example, following the Indian Ocean monsoon , the Christmas Island red crab ( Gecarcoidea natalis ) migrates en masse , forming a "living carpet" of crabs.
They can also grow to be an average size of 6–10 inches (15–25 cm), with a carapace, or the dorsal side of the exoskeleton, growing upwards of 12 inches (30 cm) wide. [1] This makes the Puget Sound king crab one of the largest crabs on the West Coast of the United States and yet it is still one of the hardest crab species to find.