The biggest crab in the world has a leg span of nearly 4 metres and weighs 13.6kg
The biggest crab in the world, says Stuart Blackman, has to be the Japanese spider crab.
In terms of linear dimensions, crabs don’t come bigger, and there’s a museum specimen in the Netherlands that has a massive legspan of 3.7m.
Weighing 13.6kg, the Japanese spider crab may also be the heaviest crab, but the Tasmanian giant crab, a stockier species, also has a claim there.
According to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, it can reach 17.6kg, which is nudging the standard airline baggage allowance.
Also worth a mention is the coconut (or robber) crab of the Indo-Pacific. At about 4kg, it is the heaviest of all terrestrial invertebrates and powerful enough to open coconuts.
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