spider crab

noun

any of various crabs of the family Majidae, having long, slender legs and a comparatively small, triangular body.

spider crab

any of various crabs of the genera Macropodia, Libinia, etc, having a small triangular body and very long legs

First recorded in 1700–10

This species of spider-crab is found from Greenland to New Jersey, in shallow as well as in deep water.

When a spider-crab grows too large for his clothes, he rips them at the back, and out he slides, a helpless soft mass.

This is the most common spider-crab of the Pacific (California) coast.

These catch in the seaweed, and soon the Spider Crab is decorated with bits of weed.

A parasite, Sacculina neglecta, sometimes drives root-like growths into the spider crab, causing slow castration.

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