# Question about big crabs and lobsters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038 "2014-06-30T22:13:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/21 "2014-07-01T18:44:46Z")
Of course they have studied the crushing power - link to a preview (PDF) - [http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20106326?uid=3739632&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104238255227](http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20106326?uid=3739632&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104238255227) Crusher and seizer lobster claws - [Crusher, seizer lobster claws](http://www.lobsters.org/ldoc/ldocpage.php?did=443) aka Ask Lobster Doc [del]Nightmares[/del] Highlights - Lobster claws grow and change throughout life.Claws of the earliest juvenile lobsters make up only about 5% of total body weight,while the largest adult males can carry almost 50%of their weight in the claws. Male lobsters develop proportionately larger claws than females of the same weight once they reach sexual maturity. Sexually mature males boast an enormous crusher claw that is highly attractive to female lobsters:eek: From - [What Crabs Are The Fightiest? | Deep Sea News](http://deepseanews.com/2012/01/what-crabs-are-the-fightiest/) “Stone crabs feed upon mollusks aided by the crushing claw that can generate up to [19,000 pounds per square inch](http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/fishwatch/species/stone_crab.htm). For a frame a reference, a car crusher only needs about 2,500-3000 pounds per square inch” :eek::eek: ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/22 "2014-07-01T20:27:11Z")
[Claw Shrimp](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/06/19/claw-shrimp). Thankfully they’re deep dwellers so aren’t dangerous to swimmers and waders. IF you go diving, though, watch out. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/23 "2014-07-02T03:02:21Z")
Even if one could outrun you, tackle you to the ground, and knock you unconscious, it wouldn’t just chop your arm off and take a bite. It would first have to shred your flesh into tiny pieces with it’s claws and sort of shovel the bits in. Their mouths and stomachs don’t work like ours do. They’re really messy eaters. Over the last 5 years, I’ve had several marine crabs as pets. They’re pretty cool actually! But being eaten by one would be a horrible way to die. Think woodchipper… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/24 "2014-07-02T04:05:30Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > [Claw Shrimp](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/06/19/claw-shrimp). Thankfully they’re deep dwellers so aren’t dangerous to swimmers and waders. IF you go diving, though, watch out. I’m pressing the stab button on my keyboard now. Is it having any effect? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/25 "2014-07-02T04:21:16Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > [Claw Shrimp](http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/06/19/claw-shrimp). Thankfully they’re deep dwellers so aren’t dangerous to swimmers and waders. IF you go diving, though, watch out. When guns are outlawed, only [del]outlaws[/del][shrimp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistol_shrimp) will have guns. I’ve always wondered what it would actually feel to get “shot” at by a pistol shrimp. Obviously they’re too small so stun a man, but would it even sting ? Just feel a bit hot ? Hurt like a motherfuck ? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/26 "2014-07-02T17:39:27Z")
I’ve always suspected the deep-seated ick factor most folks have about these critters (& terrestrial arthropods too) is something very primordial in the mammal brain from back when we were shrews and 6’ scorpions roamed the earth. Anybody have any idea if my theory has any plausible basis in fact? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/27 "2014-07-02T17:57:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’ve always suspected the deep-seated ick factor most folks have about these critters (& terrestrial arthropods too) is something very primordial in the mammal brain from back when we were shrews and 6’ scorpions roamed the earth. > > Anybody have any idea if my theory has any plausible basis in fact? There was some study that showed that people shown pictures of random objects (shoes, leaves) while getting a mild shock, reacted to the images with physiological alarm afterward. But, this wore off quickly. However, if the benign images were replaced with images of spiders or snakes, the reaction didn’t wear off at all. As I recall, this experiment either only used, or only provoked that reaction from, images of animals of which some species are poisonous. So there is apparently some evidence that we have an easy-to-awaken innate response to poisonous biting and stinging animals that can be generalized to ‘everything that in my ignorance could possibly be one of them’. After all, there’s an obvious evolutionary advantage to not just vaguely wondering if that’s one of the snakes that’s going to kill me in agony or just chew on me a little. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/28 "2014-07-02T19:08:45Z")
[giant lobster crushes crab](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRveXmA_deo) I’m not sure what the OP feels constitutes a “genuine threat” to human beings, but it seems to me that this lobster could cause permanent crippling injury to a human being’s fingers, hand, or possibly even arm. ---
**Author:** ![Fishtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ed655f/32.png) [@Fishtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishtar)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/29 "2014-07-02T19:27:38Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > [giant lobster crushes crab](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRveXmA_deo) > > I’m not sure what the OP feels constitutes a “genuine threat” to human beings, but it seems to me that this lobster could cause permanent crippling injury to a human being’s fingers, hand, or possibly even arm. They spend their lives pulling apart rotten seal flesh. All they have to do is break the skin with those claws, and then your well fucked. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/30 "2014-07-02T20:22:35Z")
Since the OP is just asking for it: even if it’s the biggest crab ever, you can always attack its weak point for massive damage[!](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/e3-sony-2006-giant-enemy-crab) > [@Kobal2](#): > > I’ve always wondered what it would actually feel to get “shot” at by a pistol shrimp. Obviously they’re too small so stun a man, but would it even sting ? Just feel a bit hot ? Hurt like a motherfuck ? Mantis shrimp (which are neither mantids nor shrimp) are sometimes called thumbsplitters, apparently with good reason. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/31 "2014-07-02T20:30:17Z")
Years ago, with friends, in Bali, we were late getting to the seafood restaurant and when we all ordered lobster they came and sold us on a large enough lobster to feed all four of us! I was the only one with any reservations, the others were all, “yeah, sure, whatever, mmmm, lobster…” And it was prepared half Newburgh, and half garlic butter, too. When it arrived it was huge! But it proved extremely yummy and perfectly cooked! Through the normal dinner chatter I kept coming back to its size, pointing out that we were all regularly snorkelling in these same waters. And then later announcing if I saw this creature in the ocean I would get out of the water directly! No one else seemed disturbed by it, but I thought about every time I went in the ocean, for a couple of weeks! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/32 "2014-07-02T21:09:42Z")
> [@sich\_hinaufwinden](#): > > Wow. I’ve seen the pic of the coconut crab before but not what you posted. > > Someone start melting a bucket of butter! Are they edible? ---
**Author:** ![RiCu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@RiCu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiCu)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/33 "2014-07-02T21:42:21Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Since the OP is just asking for it: even if it’s the biggest crab ever, you can always attack its weak point for massive damage[!](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/e3-sony-2006-giant-enemy-crab) In case you’re sat, desperately refreshing the page, hoping for some acknowledgement in the vast loneliness of the internet\* - I appreciated this joke. (\*I do this too) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/34 "2014-07-02T22:07:44Z")
But can they be et? ---
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/35 "2014-07-02T22:14:31Z")
> [@sich\_hinaufwinden](#): > > Wow. I’ve seen the pic of the coconut crab before but not what you posted. > > Someone start melting a bucket of butter! > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Are they edible? Heh - I didn’t actually know what it was a picture of, just that it looked like a giant yummy version of more typical crabs that are eaten. Anyhow, I googled some keywords from the pic’s name and it turns out it is one of these: > **[Japanese spider crab](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_spider_crab)** > > The Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi) is a species of marine crab and is the biggest one that lives in the waters around Japan. At around 3.7 meters, it has the largest leg-span of any arthropod. The Japanese name for this species is taka-ashi-gani, (Japanese: タカアシガニ), literally translating to “tall legs crab”. It goes through three main larval stages along with a prezoeal stage to grow to its great size. > The genus Macrocheira contains multiple species. 7,001 fossil species of this... And apparently it is edible as noted in the link: ‘‘The Japanese spider crab is ‘occasionally collected for food,’ and even considered a delicacy in many parts of Japan and other areas in the region.’’ ETA: And yes to eating the Coconut crabs too if that’s what you were asking. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038/36 "2014-07-03T02:59:51Z")
> [@sich\_hinaufwinden](#): > > ETA: And yes to eating the Coconut crabs too if that’s what you were asking. Well, Hell. I should think they were on the verge of extinction. Consider what Red Lobster gets for rather small crabs. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-big-crabs-and-lobsters/692038.md?page=1)