AnimalvsAnimal
Japanese Spider Crab (Macrocheira kaempferi)🦀

Photo: Lycaon (Hans Hillewaert) · CC BY 2.5

SpeciesDecapodaMacrocheiridae
Invertebrates

🦀Japanese spider crab

Macrocheira kaempferi (Temminck, 1836)

タカアシガニ（高脚蟹・学名：Macrocheira kaempferi）は、タカアシガニ科に分類されるカニ。日本近海の深海に生息する巨大なカニで、現生の節足動物では世界最大である。 カニ類の中では系統的に古い種で、生きた化石とよばれる。現生のタカアシガニ属（Macrocheira属）は1属1種のみだが、他に化石種が4種類（日本国内に2種、アメリカ合衆国ワシントン州に2種）報告されている。

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
108
Photos
6
Measurements
4
vs you
≈ 1/5th of your weight
Also called
Japanese spider crabs
Conservation status
Not evaluated

The IUCN Red List has not assessed Macrocheira kaempferi yet.

Key measurements
Body mass
14 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
not recorded
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Japanese spider crab

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
14 kgmaximum recorded
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

SeaLifeBase populates Weight independently of Length; the two are not guaranteed to describe the same individual. Verify before publishing.

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Carapace width
0.3 mmaximum recorded, carapace width
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Danger to humans
harmless
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Volume l
14 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Japanese spider crab yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force, maximum lifespan.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumArthropoda
  3. ›classMalacostraca
  4. ›orderDecapoda
  5. ›familyMacrocheiridae
  6. ›genusMacrocheira
  7. ›speciesMacrocheira kaempferi
Full lineage
  1. classCrabs, shrimp & kin · Malacostraca
  2. orderCrabs, lobsters & shrimp · Decapoda
  3. subfamilyInachinae
  4. genusMacrocheira
All 12 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumArthropoda
  3. classCrabs, shrimp & kin · Malacostraca
  4. subclassEumalacostraca
  5. superorderEucarida
  6. orderCrabs, lobsters & shrimp · Decapoda
  7. suborderPleocyemata
  8. infraorderBrachyura
  9. superfamilyMajoidea
  10. familyInachidae
  11. subfamilyInachinae
  12. genusMacrocheira
More

More about the Japanese spider crab

In other languages
帝王蟹 (zh), タカアシガニ (ja), Japoński krab pacyficzny (pl), סרטן עכביש יפני (he), Macrocheira kaempferi (fr), Macrocheira kaempferi (es) … and 23 more languages
More photos
Japanese Spider Crab (Macrocheira kaempferi)Description in the image.71-1422 Spider crabs Japan 1971
All 6 photos in the gallery →

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