🦀

The Japanese spider crab can swing its legs 3.7 meters

Imagine a crab whose legs can spread out 3.7 meters — like two grown men lying side by side. It's the Japanese spider crab, the largest arthropod in the world. If it were to stand over you, its legs would cover you like a giant 8-pointed umbrella.

This giant lives deep in the Pacific Ocean - up to 600 meters underwater, off the coast of Japan. Its body is not that big, about the size of a watermelon. But its legs are... long, thin, like spiders' - hence the name. The Japanese call it "taka-ashi-gani", which means "crab-with-high-legs.".

These crabs live an incredibly long time—up to 100 years! That’s longer than most people. The oldest known spider crab, in a Tokyo aquarium, lived for 80 years. It hatches from an egg the size of a grain of sand—and grows into a giant over the course of decades.

Interestingly, this crab is not aggressive. It is calm, slow - it walks along the bottom like an old grandfather with a stick. It eats shells, dead fish, algae - whatever it finds. It also likes to "decorate" its shell: it clings to sponges, algae and crustaceans. It turns out a walking kindergarten! This is camouflage - so that big fish don't see it.

When a spider crab molts (sheds its old shell), it becomes defenseless for several days—soft as rubber. So it hides in crevices between rocks until the new armor hardens.

If you ever see such a crab in an aquarium, tap the glass gently. It will slowly turn around and look at you from its 100-year-old rest.