crabs can run along a beach

Try walking sideways. Be careful not to trip! Do you think it would be easy to run sideways? You probably could not run very fast. Crabs, however, can easily run sideways. They run along muddy or sandy seashores on the tips of their legs. They can also burrow into the mud or sand.

Although crabs can run along a beach, they really live in water. Most crabs live in the salt water of oceans. A few kinds of crabs live in fresh water.

WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL IS A CRAB?

Crabs are animals called crustaceans. Like lobsters, shrimp, and other crustaceans, crabs have no bones. Instead, the bodies of crustaceans are covered by a hard shell. This shell protects the soft insides of their bodies.

As young crabs grow bigger, they shed their shells. A new shell slowly hardens to protect them. However, young crabs are in danger of being eaten by other animals while they are in their soft, unprotected state.

One kind of crab, the hermit crab, does not have a hard shell over its entire body. Its abdomen, the rear part of its body, is soft. The hermit crab has to look for a shell to protect its abdomen. Hermit crabs often burrow inside empty snail shells.

On its head, a crab has two feelers, or antennae, and compound eyes (eyes made of many sections). It can see, smell, and taste. Crabs have five pairs of legs attached to their bodies. The first pair of legs have powerful claws at the end. Crabs use the other four pairs of legs for walking or running sideways on a beach. Some crabs also use their back pair of legs for paddling through the water.

HOW DOES A CRAB USE ITS CLAWS?

Crabs use their claws, or pincers, to protect themselves from enemies. Fish, octopuses, lobsters, and sea otters like to eat crabs.

Male crabs also use their claws to fight other male crabs. The males fight for females. Sometimes all a male crab has to do is wave its claws to scare off a younger male.

Crabs sometimes use their claws to capture prey. Crabs eat all kinds of plants and animals in the water.

CAN YOU EAT CRABS?

You can eat several kinds of crabs. You can eat Dungeness crabs from the Pacific Coast of North America. Many people like to eat the long, red legs of Alaska’s king crab. The red king crab can grow as big as 12 pounds (5.5 kilograms).

You can also eat blue crabs. These crabs live on the East Coast of the United States. Blue crabs are also called soft-shell crabs. They do not really have soft shells. They are blue crabs that have shed their shells. Before their new shell hardens, they are called soft-shell crabs.