Japanese Spider Crab (Macrocheira kaempferi)🦀

Photo: Lycaon (Hans Hillewaert) · CC BY 2.5

SpeciesDecapodaMacrocheiridae
Invertebrates

🦀Japanese spider crab

Macrocheira kaempferi (Temminck, 1836)

The Japanese giant spider crab is a species of marine crab and is the largest crab found in the waters around Japan. At around 3.75 metres (12.3 ft), it has the largest leg-span of any arthropod. The Japanese name for this species is taka-ashi-gani,, literally translating to "tall-legged crab". It goes through three main larval stages along with a prezoeal stage to grow to its full size.

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.

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

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

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