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 with an enlarged cephalothorax covered by a broad, flat shell called the carapace. Extending from the cephalothorax are the various appendages: five pairs of legs, the first pair bearing claws (or pincers), are attached at the sides; two eyes on short, movable stalks, two short antennules, two longer antennae, and numerous mouthparts are attached at the front; at the rear the tiny abdomen is bent under the cephalothorax.

The abdomen of the female, wider and flatter than that of the male, forms an apronlike structure that continuously circulates water over the eggs that are carried on her underside. The free-swimming larva, which hatches in about two weeks, is easily recognized by the large spine that projects from its carapace. After several molts, the young crab settles to the bottom and begins to take on adult features.

Crabs are chiefly marine, but some are terrestrial for long periods. They are omnivorous; some are scavengers and others predators. Although they are capable of locomotion in all directions, crabs tend to move sideways; swimming crabs have the last pair of legs flattened to form paddles.

The blue crabblue crab,
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 of the Atlantic coast of the United States is a swimming crab that is much used for food. It is marketed as a soft-shelled crab after it has molted and before the new shell has hardened. Females of the oyster and mussel crabs live inside the shells of bivalve mollusks. Often seen scurrying about near their burrows in muddy banks are the fiddler crabsfiddler crab,
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, the males of which have one much enlarged claw used in defense and in courtship rituals. The sand, or ghost, crabs build burrows high up on the sand into which they seem to vanish. The sluggish, long-legged spider crabs are often disguised by the algae, barnacles, and sea anemones that attach themselves to the carapace. The giant spider crab of Japan, the largest living arthropod, has legs about 4 ft (22 cm) long and a carapace over 1 ft (30 cm) wide. The closely related kelp crabs are found in kelp beds in the Pacific. The name king crab is applied to the largest (up to 20 lb/9 kg) of the edible crabs, species native to the N Pacific and marketed frozen, canned, or fresh; the red king crab has been introduced into the Barents Sea.

True crabs are classified in the phylum ArthropodaArthropoda
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, subphylum Crustacea, order Decapoda. Although the many species of true crabs are similar in appearance, DNA evidence suggests that that similarity is a result of convergent evolution among several groups of sometines only distantly related decapods. The horseshoe crabhorseshoe crab,
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, which also is called by the name king crab, is not a crustacean, and the hermit crabhermit crab,
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, although a crustacean, is not a true crab.


See J. S. Weis, Walking Sideways: The Remarkable World of Crabs (2012).


(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

Crab is a popular name for the sign Cancer. Its association with moody Cancer is the ultimate source of the term “crabby.”

What does it mean when you dream about a crab?

A symbol of both the sea and the sky, the crab can stand for physical nourishment from the ocean and intellectual nourishment from the interpretation of the horoscope. Claws are tenacious and clinging, which can indicate something about the relationships the dreamer is in, especially with the opposite sex.


(invertebrate zoology)
The common name for a number of crustaceans in the order Decapoda having five pairs of walking legs, with the first pair modified as chelipeds.
The common name for members of the Merostoma.
To drift sideways or to leeward, as a ship.


1. A short shaft or axle, mounted on a frame, having squared ends to receive hand cranks; used to wind up a rope carrying a load.
2.See crocket.


crabclick for a larger image
Port engine failed & aircraft tending to yaw to the port direction. The aircraft would crab if the wings are maintained level.
Crab of photograph.
crabclick for a larger image
i. To fly with wings level on a heading that will correct for drift from crosswinds.
ii. To fly with wings level but apply significant rudder to offset the effects of crosswind.
iii. In parachuting, it means facing one's chute on a diagonal to the wind or crosswind, similar to tacking in a sailboat.
iv. To fly with wings level but with significant yaw due to asymmetric power or thrust.
v. In aerial photography, the angle formed between the flight line and the edges of the photographs in the direction of flight. At the instant of exposure, if the focal plane of the camera is not square with the direction of flight, it causes crab of the photograph. In this process, there is some reduction of overlap as shown in the illustration.
vi. The rotation of an aircraft about its vertical axis, so as to cause the aircraft's longitudinal axis to deviate from the flight line.


loves to devour oysters. [Medieval Animal Symbolism: White, 210–211]


3. short for crab louse
4. Aeronautics a manoeuvre in which an aircraft flies slightly into the crosswind to compensate for drift
6. Wrestling See Boston crab
7. catch a crab Rowing to make a stroke in which the oar either misses the water or digs too deeply, causing the rower to fall backwards


At first glance a crab seems to be a very negative dream symbol. It could represent a “crabby” or unpleasant personality. The claws could be symbolic of a clinging and hurtful person, or a side of your own personality. There may be too much dependence, clinging and forcefulness in your life. The crab may also symbolize your inability to effectively move forward and address your own difficulties. (Remember the crab often moves sideways or backwards.) Some folklore interpretations say that the crab is an omen of poor health. However, there is a more positive interpretation for the crab in your dream. In some areas of metaphysics, the crab is a representative of the sea and the sky. It represents physical nourishment that can be obtained from the sea and also intellectual nourishment. As with all water dwelling animals, the crab could also represent something in the unconscious and the emotions.
References in periodicals archive ?
The crabber doesn't have to turn, but the tyres can turn 90[degrees], so that we can bring the bridges in sideways and then hydraulically jack them into place.
According to more than one commercial crabber, it can be considered "capricious.
It is more of a coffee-table type photo book, but one that accurately portrays the rough, and sometimes difficult, way of life of the commercial fisherman, crabber, oysterman, etc.
The M/V Ocean is a former Bering-Sea crabber with a custom lift that can hoist thousands of pounds.
When an Alaska crabber is appearing on Leno, it seems clear Alaska benefits.
A lifeboat team plucked five other crewmen from a raft when their crabber went down 200 yards off Peninnis Head, on the island of St Marys.
When conditions are just right, a crabber can become rich.
Florence crabber Al Pazar saw baby octopuses, an inch or two long, climb up his crab lines to escape the sea waters in the 2005 season.
Just try to spot a whale faster than Don Mathews, a veteran Alaskan crabber who now pursues bigger quarries from the 65-foot Discovery, naturalist-staffed and customized for educational sea life- and whale-watching cruises.
A third-generation crabber who helps run his family's 36-year-old stone crab eatery, Moore's Stone Crab Restaurant, Moore can tell anyone anything they might want to know about crabs; fishing, cooking and serving them has been his family's business for three generations now.
A May Day signal was picked up by Malin Head Coastguard and an air and sea rescue launched after the 40ft crabber struck "The Bar Rocks".