World's Largest Crustacean - Giant Spider Crab

The giant spider crab of Japan dwarfs all other crustaceans, with a record span of eleven feet between outstretched claws. Spider crabs get their name from their likeness to a spider. They have rounded bodies that are covered with stubby projections (tubercles) and long spindly legs. Rarely seen, large adult spider crabs, Macrocheira kaempferi, normally live at depths of as great as 1,200 feet, migrating in spring to shallower waters to mate and lay eggs. Females …

…not strong enough to penetrate a rubber wet suite or gloves, one is instructed to keep behind them at all times. Occasionally, the legs of a spider crab become entangled with a guest's, who describe the experience as, "like wrestling with a giant underwater sloth." References Warner, William W. 1976. Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs, and the Chesagpeake Bay. Little, Brown, Boston. "Encyclopedia Britannica Online" (On-line), Available http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=37443&sctn=1. (April 12, 2000)