Facts about Crabs
- 12
Japanese spider crabs can live over 100 years in captivity, making them among the longest-living arthropods with lifespans comparable to some tortoise species.
- 11
Mantis shrimp can see 12 to 16 types of color receptors compared to humans' three, allowing them to detect ultraviolet, visible, and polarized light simultaneously while hunting prey in ocean depths.
- 10
Regeneration allows crabs to regrow lost limbs over successive molts, with new legs typically reaching full functional size within 5 to 8 molting cycles.
- 09
Some spider crabs have leg spans reaching up to 12 feet, making them the longest crabs by measurement despite having relatively small body sizes.
- 08
Crabs walk sideways because their legs bend outward at the joints, allowing them to move faster and more efficiently across sandy or rocky substrates than forward locomotion would permit.
- 07
Cancer productus, a red crab species living along the Pacific coast, can survive out of water for over 24 hours by retaining moisture in its gill chambers.
- 06
Approximately 20% of all known crustacean species are crabs, making them the dominant decapod group with over 7,000 identified species worldwide.
- 05
Male fiddler crabs wave their single oversized claw up to 4 times per second to attract females and establish territory on sandy beaches.
- 04
During their larval stage, some crab species undergo up to 17 molts before reaching their adult form, with each molt lasting only a few minutes.
- 03
A coconut crab's claws can exert pressure exceeding 3,300 newtons, making them the strongest grip of any arthropod and capable of crushing bone.
- 02
In 2016, scientists discovered that hermit crabs can recognize individual human faces and remember them for at least 10 days.
- 01
The horseshoe crab's blue blood contains Limulus Amebocyte Lysate, used since 1970 to test injectable drugs and vaccines for bacterial contamination.