Giant sea crab long by car

The undersea world is always mysterious and captivating. Although the science and technology has boomed, submarines are getting deeper and deeper, but people have not yet discovered the ocean floor. As for sea crabs, researchers have counted countless species.

Marvel at the world's largest species of spider crab

However, in the family, the scientists recognized Pacific spider crab as the largest species in the world that people ever knew. This giant crab species lives on the Japanese seabed, so it is sometimes called Japanese spider crab.

Spider crab is a giant crab shaped like a spider.(Photo: Lisbon Aquarium.)

Because the giant crabs, shaped like spiders, live on the sea floor, the information about them is still mysterious, except that their meat is very fat and nutritious and the gourmets know it well.

The scientific name of spider crab is Macrocheira kaempfer. Japanese people call them high leg crabs .

Scientists have calculated and concluded that spider crabs possess the longest foot among the crustaceans . While copper crabs are only about 10 cm long from one end to the other, a mature spider has two to five meters in length, as long as a four-seater car. Its long legs support the body about half a meter across and weigh up to 20 kg.

People often call long legs as women, while for crabs it is the opposite. The male crabs have long, long legs, and the female legs are quite short. Even more, its pair is shorter than the legs.

Although spider crabs have aggressive, pitiful looks, the observers think of giant poisonous spiders eating humans in movies, but in fact they are quite gentle. They take advantage of sponges or other creatures to disguise themselves, avoiding their opponents rather than trying to defend themselves and attack again. Meet the enemy, they can only count on the hard shell , like the neck-necked turtle.

The feet of 4-5 m long spider crabs support the body about half a meter across and weigh up to 20 kg.Photo: BNPS.

Giant spider crabs are found on the southern coast of Honshu Island, from Tokyo Bay to Kagoshima and some more remote areas. Giant crabs, weighing 15 to 20 kg, are usually found only at depths of 500-600 m under the seabed, where few species are resistant to water and darkness.

It is also because these giant crabs live at such depths, that humans rarely catch them. The life of this crab is still a mystery to humans.

The food of giant spider crabs is shellfish and shellfish. Their favorite dish is rotting corpses. The life cycle of spider crabs is also in the great sea. Scientists believe they can live up to 100 years. The crabs with this age reach this threshold, their weight also reaches the maximum level.

Because these crabs are very tasty for meat, they are hunted aggressively. The center of spider fishing is located in the Suruga Bay of Japan.

It was recorded that the harvest of spider crabs in 1976 reached a record of 247 tons. However, the exploitation output keeps decreasing. By 1985, the number was only 32 tons.

In recent years, although equipped with modern facilities, but the output only reached a few tons per year. Crabs caught are usually not very large, with lengths of about 100 cm. They are only caught when they get lost in shallow waters.

Recently, public opinion stirred when a Japanese fisherman caught a spider crab weighing 15 kg, with a stratum reaching 2.4 m. Immediately, the crab was transferred to the German city of Munich for nurturing.

According to scientists, this crab is about 30-40 years old. It will have 60-70 years of growth and its weight will continue to increase.

Giant spider crab.

This 15kg spider crab was captured by a resident at Heda, Suraga Bay , southwest of Tokyo , and almost sold to the restaurant.

Fortunately, the resident contacted biologist Robin James, of the Weymouth Sea Life Research Institute in Dorset (England). James visited the village of Heda a few weeks ago and rescued the giant sea crab.

Named Kong, a 40-year-old crab is temporarily on display in Dorset before moving to a new home in Munich, Germany.

The staff at Sea Life believes that this is the biggest crab ever captured. James said: ' Kong will definitely get more attention than the biggest crab before, Crabzilla, weighs 13kg '.

Kong is currently 3m long, but when it is completed, it can be as long as the car.