Triangle crab

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Triangle crab
Maja squinado

Maja squinado

Systematics
Class : Higher crabs (Malacostraca)
Order : Decapods (decapoda)
Subordination : Pleocyemata
Partial order : Crab (Brachyura)
Superfamily : Majoidea
Family : Triangle crab
Scientific name
Majidae
Samouelle , 1819

Triangular crabs or spider crabs or sea ​​spiders (Majidae) belong to the sub-order of crabs with around 700 marine species, whose carapace (back armor) is longer than wide and pointed at the front and therefore often looks triangular from above, which gives their name. The legs and scissor feet are spider-like long. The body and legs are covered with hook-like bristles , to which the animals attach algae and other foreign bodies for camouflage. In the case of adults who no longer molt, sponges and algae often grow on the body, which the animal puts on itself to camouflage itself. A strong sexual dimorphism becomes evident during the last moult . The males have much larger claws than the females . Most species are slow omnivores that feed on algae, animals, carrion, and occasionally their own camouflage material.

The Japanese giant crab ( Macrocheira kaempferi ), the largest living crustacean, is a representative of the triangular crab with average leg spans of 3 meters. The smallest spider crab is the little ghost crab ( Macropodia parva ) from the Atlantic. The sea ​​spiders or devil crabs of the genus Maja live in the Mediterranean .

Genera

literature

Web links

Commons : Majidae  - collection of images, videos and audio files