Triangle crab
Triangle crab | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maja squinado |
||||||||||||
Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
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
- Helmut Debelius : Krebsführer , Jahr Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-86132-504-7 .
Web links
- Mithraculus cinctimanus timely (HD video)
- In spider crabs, the gut replaces the heart , n-tv July 16, 2017