# Do Alaskan King Crabs regenerate legs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-alaskan-king-crabs-regenerate-legs/253415>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 3, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-alaskan-king-crabs-regenerate-legs/253415 "2004-07-03T22:01:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PecanSandy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@PecanSandy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PecanSandy)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-alaskan-king-crabs-regenerate-legs/253415/1 "2004-07-03T22:01:34Z")

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Is it true that the crabbers who catch Alaskan King Crabs break off all but two of the crabs legs and throw the crab back into the sea when the crab grows the missing legs back?

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**Author:** ![Daizy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@Daizy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daizy)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-alaskan-king-crabs-regenerate-legs/253415/2 "2004-07-03T23:07:33Z")

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Bottom of [this page](http://www.privateclubs.com/archives/1999-may-june/food_crabcakes.htm) gives that description for the Stone Crab:

> [@](#):
>
> STONE — These crabs are found in Florida waters, and only the claws are used. Fishermen take one claw from a crab and pitch the crab back into the ocean to grow another claw.

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**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-alaskan-king-crabs-regenerate-legs/253415/3 "2004-07-03T23:24:29Z")

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I doubt very much that it’s true. Crabs can regenerate limbs, but it’s slow because they can only do so by a tiny amount every time they moult. A crab with only two legs would have a lot of trouble moving and would probably starve to death or be eaten well before it found enough food to enable it to moult.

More importantly I would have to question why a fisherman would break off all but two of the crabs legs. It’s just a waste of time.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-alaskan-king-crabs-regenerate-legs/253415/4 "2004-07-04T00:51:45Z")

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> [@Blake](#):
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> More importantly I would have to question why a fisherman would break off all but two of the crabs legs. It’s just a waste of time.

Especially when the fishery is depressed and king crab is going for $20 a pound.

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**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-alaskan-king-crabs-regenerate-legs/253415/5 "2004-07-04T07:16:43Z")

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Googling “king crab fishing practices” produced [www.gov.nf.ca/fishaq/species/underutilized/pdf/atlantic\_red\_king\_crab.pdf+alaskan+king+crab+fishing+practices&hl=en]this]([http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:rhw2cCBjrYkJ:](http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:rhw2cCBjrYkJ:)[url) link, among others, which seems to indicate the entire crab is taken.

I was under the impression that only two king crab legs were taken; after reading **Daizy’s** post, however, I think I was confusing two different animals.

And to completely hijack, I had a dream as a child which concered the local medical reporter holding up a king crab/tarantula hybrid and explaining how it ate its way through the hull of an oil tanker, ultimately sinking it. Yes, I was a strange child. Don’t look at me like that.