Spider Crab

ID points

• Extremely long legs, spanning over three metres side to side
• Carapace relatively small and pear-shaped
• Shell covered in knobs, often overgrown with algae

Basics

Family

Inachidae

Length

2.5–3.8 m

Depth

50-600 m

Regions

Indo-Pacific reefs · Deep sea

Distribution

Deep water off Japan in the western Pacific

Habitat

Deep cold-water bottoms

Diet

Carrion and molluscs

Easily confused with

Arrow CrabCarapace a sharp triangle, with a long spiny snoutPistol ShrimpOne claw is hugely enlarged and fires a shockwave bubbleBlennyOften has forked fleshy tentacles above the eyes

Fun fact

The Japanese spider crab is the largest arthropod in the world, with a leg span reaching 3.8 metres, a weight of up to 20 kilograms and a lifespan of more than 100 years.