📷 Teddy Yoshida · Public domain
📷 Adrian Pingstone
📷 Lycaon (Hans Hillewaert)
IUCN: Not Evaluated
Japanese Spider Crab
Macrocheira kaempferi
KingdomAnimalia›PhylumArthropoda›ClassMalacostraca›OrderDecapoda›FamilyInachidae›GenusMacrocheira
About
The Japanese spider crab has the greatest leg span of any arthropod, up to 3.7 m from claw to claw, carried on a small body. It lives on soft bottoms off Japan, decorating its shell with sponges and algae for camouflage, and scavenges dead animals on the seafloor. Fishermen take it for food, and populations are thought to have declined; regulations now protect the breeding season.
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Deep Pacific waters off Japan, from 50 to 600 m, coming shallower to spawn
🍃Diet Scavenger and omnivore — dead animals, shellfish, and algae
📏Size & Weight Leg span up to 3.7 m; body carapace about 40 cm
•weight Up to 19 kg
⏳Lifespan Possibly up to 100 years
🗺Range Endemic to waters around Japan
InvertebrateCrab
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Deep Pacific waters off Japan, from 50 to 600 m, coming shallower to spawn
🍃Diet Scavenger and omnivore — dead animals, shellfish, and algae
📏Size & Weight Leg span up to 3.7 m; body carapace about 40 cm
•weight Up to 19 kg
⏳Lifespan Possibly up to 100 years
🗺Range Endemic to waters around Japan
Photo Credits
#1Teddy Yoshida · Public domain
#2Adrian Pingstone · Public domain
#3Lycaon (Hans Hillewaert) · CC BY 2.5
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