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spider crab

 
Dictionary: spider crab
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n.
Any of various crabs, such as those of the genera Libinia and Macrocheira, having long legs and a relatively small triangular body.


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: spider crab
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Spider crab (Libinia)
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Spider crab (Libinia) (credit: Walter Dawn)
Any species of sluggish marine crab in the widely distributed family Majidae (or Maiidae). Spider crabs have a beak-shaped head; thick, rounded body; and long, spindly legs. They use a mucuslike mouth secretion to fasten algae, sponges, and other organisms to the hairs, spines, and knobby projections covering the body. Most species are scavengers, especially of carrion. Their size varies greatly. The body of the European long-beaked spider crab (Macropodia rostrata) is less than 0.5 in. (1 cm) in diameter, whereas the Japanese giant crab (Macrocheira kaempferi), whose outstretched claws can measure 13 ft (4 m) from tip to tip, is perhaps the largest known arthropod.

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WordNet: spider crab
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: any of numerous crabs with very long legs and small triangular bodies

Wikipedia: Spider crab
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The term spider crab can refer to crab various species of crab in the family Majidae. See Crab spider for spiders of the Thomisidae family.

  • Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi), the largest crab alive, found on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean
  • Portly spider crab (Libinia emarginata), a species of crab found in estuarine habitats on the east coast of North America
  • Hyas, a genus of spider crabs, including the great spider crab (Hyas araneus), found in the Atlantic and the North Sea
  • Maja squinado, sometimes called the "European spider crab"


Spider-crab can also refer to:


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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Spider crab".  Read more