Giant crab

Macrocheira kaempferi (Temminck, 1836) taka-ashi-gani

The giant Japanese spider crab is the largest of all crabs. The leg-span is up to 4 m. It weighs 16 – 20 kg. They are long living, up to 100 years.

Where do they live? On the see floor of the Pacific Ocean (some 300 – 400 m deep) around Japan. It feeds on dead animals and shellfish.

The story goes that the crabs hide in the kelp forest waiting to strike and grasp an ama (Japanese diver, famous for collecting pearls) and drowning their victim to feast on the decaying body, hence their vernacular name “shinin-gani” or “dead man’s crab”. That seems unlikely to me, because they are very brittle. Legs are easily snapped of and hence complete specimens are rare. 99% of the caught specimens have 1 to 3 broken or missing legs. Specimens with four missing legs are rarely observed. Any more loss leaves the animal incapable of survival. So when an ama should be attacked, with a lot of struggle, escape should not be difficult.