Talk:Crab/Archive 1

Archive 1

Claws

do crabs claws go back? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.94.240.102 (talk) 22:14, 25 October 2004 (UTC)

species

How about links to the various crab species? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lengis (talk) 06:01, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

Amen to whoever wrote that. This article needs links to tie together to some of the zillion types of crabs in various Wikipedia articles, including all of them in Category:Crabs, including grouping them in ways we don't get in the bald category listings. Gene Nygaard 05:34, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Confusing Crab/True Crab distinction

Crabs (Clade Meiura) comprise Brachyura (true crabs) and Anomura (hermit crabs, etc.) This much is not controversial; see e.g. Wikipedia, or even Merriam-Webster:

crab [OE crabba; OHG krebiz; OE ceorfan == to carve]
  1 any of numerous chiefly marine broadly built decapod crustaceans:
  1a = any of Brachyura
  1b = any of a group (Anomura) resembling true crabs
  [e.g. king crab = "any of several very large crabs ..."]

Wikipedia has pages for "Crab" and "Anomura"; no pages for "Meiura" or "true crab"; "Brachyura" redirects to "Crab". This can be confusing (proofs: Casual glance at the page convinces one king crab is in Brachyura; I was confused, however briefly.) There is a page "Crab(disambiguation)" but it does not address this confusion at all.

There certainly should be one "main" page for "Crab"; the present page seems well-written; I don't know to what extent its remarks apply only to Brachyura or to Anomura as well; perhaps this should be addressed in the main article.

Perhaps a "True crab" page should be created with "Brachyura" redirected to that. I don't know; just know the present setup is more than slightly flawed. Jamesdowallen (talk) 19:10, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Oops, I see the clarifying edit just a few hours earlier. Still, I'm not fully satisfied: The section on Culinary pertains to mainly "non-true crabs", right? I'd be partly satisfied if one sentence were added to into "Most of this page applies to these broad-sense crabs as well as true crabs" ... if that's a true statement. However I think the proper solution is to have (at least) 2 pages: True Crabs and Crabs (Broad sense). Jamesdowallen (talk) 19:21, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Not really. All the species mentioned in the culinary section are true crabs. The same techniques may well be applied to king crabs, but that's the only additional group. Hermit crabs, porcelain crabs, horseshoe crabs, and the rest, are not fished for or eaten on any measurable scale. Simply because the word "crab" is used colloquially to cover other related animals is no indication that "crab" itself has a wider meaning. Other members of the Anomura have names based on "lobster", but squat lobsters are not lobsters (while the Dublin Bay prawn is a lobster, not a prawn). Both langoustes and langoustines (not closely related) are both named ultimately after locusts, but there is no way that the article locust should discuss either. Common names can be very misleading, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a single widely-accepted "true" meaning. The first definition in any dictionary is always Brachyura; the fact that other alternative uses exist means not that we should re-write crab to includes all animals with "crab" in their names, but that we should disambiguate (which we do, with a hatlink and a sentence high up in the lead). We already have your two pages, except that by Wikipedia's naming conventions, they are (correctly) called crab and crab (disambiguation). Certainly, the latter could do with some work (not all crabs — either "true crabs" or hermit crabs — are "water-dwelling" for instance), but I can't see any justification for trying to shoehorn other taxonomic groups into this article, which is explicit about what it covers, and covers the single most appropriate meaning of "crab". --Stemonitis (talk) 08:19, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

Picture of baby crab

I added a picture of a (what I assume is a) baby crab Image:Baby crab.jpg. It wqas removed by annon user 193.190.112.194 who said that it has no encoycopedic value[1]. While I admit it is not of overwelming scientific value, would it not be a good idea to have a picture of a baby crab to show the development of crabs?--JK the unwise 14:56, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

As no one has replied I'm going to re-add the picture.--JK the unwise 13:08, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

what are cras adaptive features?

I mean crabs

Sexual dismorphism

Sometime I've read in a magazine (an old "super interessante") that the portuguese like to fish male crabs to remove their larger claw and then they free the crab so it's claw will grow again, and when the claw is growing the other crabs think he is a she-crab instead and the poor mutilated crab doesn't get to mate with shecrabs, is this true? 201.23.64.2 23:09, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

I have read that stone crabs (genus Menippe) became very popular as food recently, and are now endangered. Fishermen now try to reduce the risk of its extinction: since most of the best meat is contained in the large claw, they cut the claw off and release the crab to grow a new one. On the contrary, they don't do it out of cruelty. --Crustaceanguy(t/co/cw) 13:43, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

GA Concern: Embedded List guideline

A GA reviewer would have trouble passing this article, because it fails criterion 1(c). Please review the list guidelines. -Fsotrain₀₉ 00:19, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Point taken — list moved to taxobox. --Stemonitis 08:06, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Thank you for acting so promptly, and replying. I have cleaned up the list some, and I believe it would now pass that criterion. -Fsotrain₀₉ 17:13, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm unsure about the value of removing red links, but if you think it will help, then so be it. There was a bit of a mistake in the taxobox, which I have now sorted out. --Stemonitis 17:19, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

It's not the existence of redlinks, its that the list consisted almost entirely of them. I do think dewikification was warranted here. I apologize for the error I made. --Fsotrain₀₉ 18:14, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

GA coments

I will not fail this article, just give some of my comments, not really sure how strict to be so I let someone with more experience in assessing GA do it. I think it fails requirement 3) I.e. coverage, Im not sure what is know about crabs, but I can not find anything about what crabs eat, how long do they live, there is a passing remark to them carrying eggs in reference to different body shapes, but no description of reproduction, the heading seams to be randomly named and often talk about many other things, I'm expecting heading like Physical characteristics, senses, behaviour. Stefan 15:11, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm afraid I agree: I'm a biology student, and still find this article relatively disorganised and hard to read therefore. Needs substantial expansion and reorginisation. That said, almost all of what is there is of quite high quality, and will, if rearranged a bit and the missing information added in, be a fine part of a featured article Adam Cuerden ^talk 12:31, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

brains

do a crab have a brain an a heart??

Yes, crabs and other crustaceans are in fact relatively complex animals. They have a brain, a heart, and many other important organs.--Crustaceanguy 13:43, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

do crabs eat peeople

Do crabs eat people

yes they do. Infact they must've eaten you by now. 202.1.192.6 16:59, 6 April 2007 (UTC)buzzangie

Man-eating crabs? I do not think it's likely, but not impossible. The only man-eating crustaceans I know are a few amphipods.--Crustaceanguy 13:59, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

I seriously doubt that a crab would bother to try killing a human being, but I think it's likely that some crab species would feast on corpses found in the water.--Gunnar Mikalsen Kvifte 05:00, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Walking sideways

i came on here to find out some questions my little brother asked about why do they walk sideways, and can they walk forwards? there isn't any mention of that at all. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.19.3.231 (talk • contribs)

There used to be a short discussion of it, but I think it was removed because of a lack of references. Most crabs walk sideways most of the time, because it's easier given the way the joints in their legs bend. However, plenty of crabs are perfectly able to walk in any direction they please. The quote at Grapsus grapsus illustrates the agility that many crabs possess. --Stemonitis 19:25, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

Identification

Who am I?

I took this photo at Croajingolong National Park on the east coast of Australia. Someone told me it was a "soldier crab". Can anyone confirm or be more specific? Stevage 04:28, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Please help to identify this crab

File:Fifth2.JPG

This crab?

I bought this crab at the supermarket and didn't want to eat it lol, can anyone tell me what's the name of this breed ? (in the green picture) Thanks a lot ! --AlexMilkis 15:57, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

It's a freshwater crayfish, not a crab. It's difficult to identify it further without knowing where it's from. --Stemonitis 16:46, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

New Species should be listed

As Wikipedia will not let me edit the "Crab" page, I might as well just put this here-

in 2005, a new crab species was discovered that was nicknamed the "Yeti Crab". Heres some random information on it- http://www.mbari.org/news/homepage/2006/yeti-crab.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.188.215.93 (talk • contribs)

See Kiwa hirsuta. Also note that it is not actually a crab. --Stemonitis 13:33, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Fossil Crabs

Wouldn't it be nice to have a little more info about ancient crabs and crab evolution? Some pics of fossil crabs would be awfully good as well.

On "diet"

With crabs being such a diverse group of animals, it is questionable to claim that they mostly feed on algae citing a study of just one of several thousand species as evidence. Pea crabs, for instance, feed exclusively on plankton.--Gunnar Mikalsen Kvifte 05:00, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Cromer crabs. The Cromer crab is a very special species surviving massive drops off the local pier on a regular basis. Some may see this as in humain however recent studies show that if once caught the crabs are not dropped back in from the pier but let loose on the beach the survival rate is thought to be much slimmer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.79.71.230 (talk) 18:32, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Massive Damage?

In the unlikely event of a giant crab encounter, where should I strike to inflict massive damage? Thanks!

I would think somewhere near their eyes, going for the brain. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.77.19.12 (talk) 19:28, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

No, you have to get them on their backs, and then you'll find an obvious glowing weak spot. Strike it for massive damage. 76.64.156.168 (talk) 03:59, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g1fr5vk72M

Kayewees?

There is something odd here. the article Kayewee seems to be the first bit of the crab article that someone has copied, replacing "crab" with a nonsense word. As a new user could someone please give me the procedure for deleting pages that are probably vandalism? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.235.249.229 (talk) 19:52, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

---

Few types do grow back but most do not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Apollo81001 (talk • contribs) 20:55, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Earliest established crustacean group

Lately I have been browsing taxonomical lists of crustacean groups and looking at the dates when scientists established these taxa. I have noticed that of the major groups of crustaceans, the suborder Brachyura has been established in 1752, making it (one of) the earliest crustacean group(s). (The subphylum Crustacea itself followed in 1772). Is the fact notable enough for inclusion in this article?--Crustaceanguy (talk) 18:41, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Looks like a good idea. However it was in 1758 (not 1752) that Linnaeus wrote after having diagnosed the genus Cancer: BRACHYURI Thorace leave lateribus integerrimo. [Davie et al.], regarded this in 2008 as a valid description of what is now the infraorder Brachyura. Lycaon (talk) 20:40, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

eating crab

i wanted to know what part of the crab you can eat, can you just eat the claws or can your eat the head too —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.35.84.159 (talk) 00:37, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

eating crab

i just wanted to know what parts of the crab you can eat, i know that you can eat the legs, but can you eat the body ?? tanya —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.35.84.159 (talk) 00:39, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Smoking Crabs

I'm sure that one of you has seen the motivational pics of what looks like crabs smoking, can they learn to smoke or do they just examine whatever they find and it just looks like their smoking?--216.97.180.125 (talk) 02:45, 27 July 2009 (UTC) --216.97.180.125 (talk) 02:45, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Crabs EQ True Crabs ???

To any layman, hermit crabs are crabs. In other words, "crab" and Brachura are two different categories. This can lead to confusion; the confusion even affects this article (I got confused). Perhaps two pages are needed, for two different phylogenetic levels. Or perhaps a brief 1-sentence mention of this confusion early in the article would be enough. Jamesdowallen (talk) 13:29, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

This is a fair point. Although it is not correct to call a hermit crab a crab, even in layman's terms (just as a scorpion fly is neither a scorpion nor a fly, or Hemp Agrimony is neither a hemp nor an agrimony), it could lead to confusion. I have re-worked the introduction to mention other animals that might be naïvely considered crabs. --Stemonitis (talk) 13:57, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

robber crab

mentioned in the first episode of the great BBC documentary "South Pacific" ... any ideas to add some info about it in the page ?? specially when it's said that it is the largest invertebrate on earth !! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dr B2 (talk • contribs) 23:44, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

See coconut crab. It's a hermit crab, not a true crab, which is why it isn't mentioned here. --Stemonitis (talk) 06:56, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Beginning Lines

"True crabs are Ms. Barkers favorite and best friends" Who's Ms.Barkers and why is this relevant? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.74.33.222 (talk) 15:34, 8 October 2010 (UTC)

Archive 1

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Crab/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

Comment(s)

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I can only repeat Stefan's comments on this talk page: "I can not find anything about what crabs eat, how long do they live, there is a passing remark to them carrying eggs in reference to different body shapes, but no description of reproduction, the headings seem to be randomly named and often talk about many other things, I'm expecting headings like Physical characteristics, senses, behaviour". Needs expanding and reorganising. IronChris | (talk) 04:48, 18 November 2006 (UTC) The article has re-organised extensively and expanded slightly since Stefan's comments were posted. There is now a diet section, and an anatomy section (so covering "what crabs eat" and "physical characteristics" suggested above). Lifespan, behaviour and other similar topics are very variable within the group, making it difficult to write a meaningful text. --Stemonitis 15:49, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Last edited at 15:49, 1 December 2006 (UTC). Substituted at 14:35, 1 May 2016 (UTC)