Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,914,590,136 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

spider crab

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.

spider crab

Enlarge picture
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.
Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link 		Feedback
Mentioned in?  References in periodicals archive?   Encyclopedia browser?   Full browser?
No references found
 
The biology was unbelievable, with purple corals and vibrant orange spider crabs.
Jason encounters the carnivorous sea squirt by Nevala, Amy E.; Lippsett, Lonny / Oceanus
I particularly love spider crabs and they had thousands.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK How to boil and prepare a crab by The Journal (Newcastle, England)
The image was the overall winner in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition which goes on show at Liverpool Cathedral this week DEADLOCK: David Maitland's image of an endangered Morelet's tree frog battling for its life with a cat-eyed snake in Belize DRAMATIC: Clash of Eagles by Antoni Kasprzak which was the winner in the animal behaviour birds category of the photographic competition DADDY LONG LEGS: A couple of spider crabs.
Our walk on the wild side by Liverpool Echo (Liverpool, England)
 
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Advertise with Us | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.