Ten of the Worlds Most Unusual and Amazing Crabs

While on my travels across the internet looking for all kinds of images for my to 10’s I came across one that I couldn’t believe was real. It was a picture of a coconut crab climbing on a bin! Not only was this image real but it seems that I may have underestimated just how amazing the entire crab family is because to be fair there are some rather surprising ones…


 

Birgus latro
Birgus latro

10 – The Coconut Crab

These amazing crabs (That are not proper crabs at all, but hermit crabs) are standard bright blue although they can also be orange or red, and the biggest ever recorded measured 18 inches across!!! That is one big crab indeed.

Kiwa hirsuta
Kiwa hirsuta

9 – The Yeti Crab

This crab is in fact often called a “Hoff Crab” due to this super strong crustacean’s hairy chest that they comb every day. But these crabs don’t comb their hair to look good, they do it because they’re hungry! Because here is the weird bit, they do in fact grow their food in their hair, trapping bacteria and letting it flourish before picking it out and eating it!

Pseudocarcinus gigas
Pseudocarcinus gigas

8 – Tasmanian Giant Crab

Say hello to Claude because he is officially the Worlds heaviest crab. Weighing in at 15lbs and 15 inches across he is one big crab. But here is the best part: Claude is just a teenager in the World of crabs and is still growing both in size and weight!!!

Macrocheira kaempferi
Macrocheira kaempferi

7 – The Japanese Spider Crab

From the Worlds heaviest crab to the biggest! This is Big-Daddy house in Blackpool Sea-Life centre. Now for the scary stats: This amazing crab is a mega-sized 2.7 meters across, that’s 9ft!!!

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Pilumnus vespertilio
Pilumnus vespertilio

6 – The Hairy Bear Crab

If there were an award for the cutest crab in the World, this one would win it. Widely accepted to be the hairiest crab in the world, its covered in long, soft, hair that is catches floating food in, although at only 3-5cm in length it doesn’t need much.

Geosesarma Sp
Geosesarma Sp

5 – The Vampire Crab

So why are they called Vampire crabs? When they are born, they are born with grey eyes, but it is not until adulthood that their eyes become bright red! But at just over 6-10cm wide they are not going to be biting any necks soon.

Trapezia rufopunctata
Trapezia rufopunctata

4 – The Guard Grab

It might be on 5 cm in size, but this crabs entire life is spent defending coral branches from fish, and it does this all day and all night. A true coral guard if ever I saw one.

Charybdis erythrodactyla
Charybdis erythrodactyla

3 – The Rainbow Swimming Crab.

Regardless of its name, this crab is not all sweetness and lovely coloured shell. With six front triangular teeth and seven acute teeth, four spines on the upper border and super sharp subdial posterior spines it might look lovely but is a walking sea-based tank.

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Hoplophrys oatesii
Hoplophrys oatesii

2 – The Candy Crab

This incredibly beautiful crab is very tiny indeed. Measuring just 2cm across in most cases it is very hard to find. They make it even harder to be spotted by pinching off bits of the soft coral it lives in and sticking them onto it’s back!

Insulamon magnum
Insulamon magnum

1 – The Palawan Purple Crab

What is so amazing about this crab is not just its colour, but the fact that it was only discovered last year! This is one of the four new species to be found on its home Island of Palawan in the Philippines.

Author: Gus Barge

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