#1 Crab

#1 Crab

Common Name: Crab (decapods)

Description: colour: red, shape: flattened body, two antennae, two eyes at the ends of stalks, about 5 inches in diameter.

- Thick exoskeleton(carapace), an outer shell that protects them from predators and provides support.

- Bilateral symmetry, eight jointed legs, two large grasping claws(pincers).

- Crabs are omnivores(eat both plants and animals), and some feed primarily on algae, others feed on mollusks, worms, crustaceans, fungi, bacteria, and organic non-living materials.

- The majority of crabs eat snails, mussels, shell fish, decayed vegetation and sea weed.

- Land crabs have two cavities that act like lungs and allow them to breathe air, Marine crabs breathe underwater using gills.

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Subphylum: Crustacae

Class: Malacostraca

Order: Decapoda

Suborder: Dieocyemata

Family: Brachyura

Genus: Uca

Ecology

-Many crustaceans are important to humans because of their large role in marine and terrestrial food chains. Smaller crustaceans have the ability to recycle nutrients as filter feeders. Large crustaceans can act as a food source for large aquatic mammals. Terrestrial crustaceans are decomposers of dead organisms. 

- There are 500 known species of hermit crabs 

- Predators include lobsters, octopus, otters and other crabs 

- Male crabs often have longer claws than females 

- Crabs' teeth are located in their stomachs

- The average crab lives no longer than three years

- If a crab loses its claw, the claw grows back

- The male crabs have narrow abdomens while the female crabs have broader abdomens