Japanese spider crab

타카아시게(자이언트 스파이더 크랩)

The Japanese spider crab spans more than 3 m across its legs, the widest of any arthropod. It lives hundreds of metres deep off Japan, and its body is small but its stilt-like legs let it stroll slowly across the seabed.

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At a glance

Class: Crustaceans
Diet: Eats both plants and meat (omnivore)
Habitat: deep sea

Quick answers

Where does the Japanese spider crab live?

It lives in deep sea of the Pacific Ocean.

What does the Japanese spider crab eat?

Its diet: eats both plants and meat (omnivore).

The Japanese spider crab is a giant crab from the waters around Japan. Its body is only about 40 centimetres wide, but its long, stilt-like legs can stretch up to about 3.7 metres from claw to claw. That is the widest leg span of any known arthropod, the big group that also includes insects, spiders and lobsters.

It lives on the sea floor, usually between about 50 and 600 metres deep. In Japan its name, taka-ashi-gani, means tall-legged crab. It can weigh up to 19 kilograms, and although it looks fierce it is described as gentle. Because people catch it for food, fishing rules have been put in place to protect it.

Life on the sea floor

The spider crab walks slowly over rocky bottoms. Its bumpy shell blends into the rocks, and it decorates itself with pieces of sponge and other small sea animals to hide. It eats small animals such as clams and also plants and algae, and it will clean up dead or rotting fish. Females can lay up to about 1.5 million eggs at a time.

Growing by molting

Like all crabs, it must shed its hard shell to grow. Its molt takes about 100 minutes, starting at the back of the shell and ending with the walking legs. During that time the crab cannot move, so it is easy to harm. Colder water slows its growth. Older males have longer claws than females.

Fun facts

Its legs can span about 3.7 metres, longer than a small car.
The crab decorates its shell with sponges and other animals as camouflage.
It can weigh up to 19 kilograms, though an American lobster has been recorded slightly heavier.
Its Japanese name, taka-ashi-gani, means tall-legged crab.