crab
(plural: ‘crabs‘; pronunciation; the letter ‘c’ is said with a ‘k’ sound as in “king”)
a kind of sea animal – crustacean – flat body with outer skeleton (exoskeleton) called carapace , the movable abdomen is called ‘apron’; eyes on stalks (small finger-like projections that can be raised and lowered at will), five pairs of legs, the front pair is changed (transformed) into claws called pincers, used for holding food, digging burrows or fighting with enemies or with their own during mating – therefore, has only four pairs for moving; two long antennae on the head part; sizes vary widely – ‘pea crab’ is only a few millimetres, whereas the ‘Japanese spider crab’ grows to 1 foot body (carapace) and 10-12 feet leg span (when legs are stretched to full length); feeds on algae, fungi, bacteria, plant matter, molluscs, and other crab-like animals; the life-span of a crab depends on the species – some kinds live for a few months, and some live for more than 30 years – but on average, about 3 years; about 6,800 species (kinds) found throughout the world
crab claws
Names of some common crabs: marked crab, circular crab, Halloween crab, arrow crab, thumbnail crab, pea crab,Japanese spider crab, ghost crab, fiddler crab, calico crab, land crab, mangrove crab, mud crab, soldier crab, (hermit crab), coconut crab
the eyes on top
male ~~ jimmy {only in some species}
female ~~ sook (laying eggs); sally or she-crab (young) – {only in some species}
baby ~~ zoea (very young)
group ~~ {not confirmed} skuttle, colony, cast, anomaly, consortium; pod (young crabs)
home ~~ burrow
Crabs are a very important food source in the world: they are high in protein and low in fat; about 1½ million tonnes of crabs are eaten by the people around the world every year! The Dungeness crab is a popular food crab. Most crabs live in seas, but of the 6,800 species (kinds) 850 live in fresh water, and a few live on land – e.g. ‘robber crab’ lives on land, but all crabs lay eggs in water.Special Features:
crab as food
a crab walking sideways
Though crabs are capable of walking in all directions with their 4 pairs of legs, they prefer to walk side-ways! If a crab’s leg is cut away or eaten away by its predators, it grows again (regenerates).
It is fascinating to know that male crabs make sounds with their legs or pincers to attract females.
a hermit crab in a shellfish shell
“Horse shoe crab or king crab” is not a crab at all; it is related to spiders.
“Hermit crabs” are crabs without carapace; they use the discarded shells of snails or other shell-bearing animals, and so, they are not ‘true crabs’.
“Coconut crabs” can climb trees!
Figures of Speech:
1.
1.
crab (noun) = a bad-tempered, annoying, complaining person
2.
crabbed [said of someone’s hand-writing which is small, cramped and difficult to read]
3.
crabby = bad-tempered and miserable
4.
land crab = an unpleasant land agent
5.
crabwise = sideways (not straight or direct)
6.
to catch a crab [said of an oarsman rowing a boat with oars who fails to touch the water surface with the oar, or who gets the oars jammed underwater because of a clumsy stroke]
7.
as tight as a crab’s arse [said of something that is water-tight] {not to be used in formal situations}
8.
all on one side, like a crab going to jail
9.
one can’t make a crab walk straight [said of someone who is trying to do something impossible]
10.
the greatest (biggest) crabs are not all the best meat [said to suggest that quality need not necessarily go with quantity, or vice versa]
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