At least once in a lifetime, everyone had a chance to try this amazing and healthy sea delicacy with a delicate pleasant taste - crab meat. It's about not about the popular substitute - the so-called " crab sticks”, made from fish protein and dyes, and about a natural product - the meat of marine animals. There is in the world a large number of all kinds of crabs, many of which reach very significant sizes - up to three and a half meters, and can weigh up to three kilograms.

For eating, the tender white crab meat contained in its claws and paws is used. The meat is pre-boiled, after which it is frozen or canned. Crab meat is considered a dietary product.

Ingredients of crab meat:
Crab meat contains many useful substances, including vitamins A and B groups (B1, B2, B5, B6, B9 and B12), micro and macro elements such as iron, potassium, calcium, iodine, copper, phosphorus, selenium and other minerals. Crab meat contains fatty acids such as Omega-3 and Omega-6. Crab meat contains essential amino acids.

Crab meat calories:
The calorie content of crab meat is about 90 kcal per 100 grams of product.

Useful properties of crab meat

  • Crab meat has a positive effect on work of cardio-vascular system, strengthens the heart muscle, normalizes blood cholesterol levels, reduces the likelihood of vascular and heart diseases.
  • Favorably affects the thyroid gland and the endocrine system.
  • Crab meat is good for the digestive system.
  • Helps improve vision.
  • Helps fight stress and depression, improves mood, strengthens the nervous system.
  • Experts recommend including crab meat in the diet of overweight people.
  • Crab meat helps protect the body from premature aging.
  • It has a positive effect on the condition of the skin.
  • Crab meat is considered an aphrodisiac, it helps to increase potency in men.

King Leopard Crab(Parathelphusa Pantherina)
Latin name: Parathelphusa Pantherina
Other names : Panther Crab, Freshwater King Crab.

Habitat

In nature, the king leopard crab lives in water bodies with fresh water located in Indonesia.

Appearance and gender differences

The color of the leopard crab is very unusual and beautiful. The light beige body is decorated with a scattering of dark brown spots, due to which this species and got its name. King crab is no different large sizes: its body, including claws, reaches 12 cm in length, and the carapace - 4 cm in length and 3 cm in width.

Conditions of detention

The king crab can hardly be called peaceful. This animal prefers to keep apart and have a personal territory that he does not want to share with other members of his family. Crabs of this species are recommended to be kept in families, which usually consist of 2-3 females and one male. But if you plan to place several males in one aquarium, then it is important for each of them to provide a territory of at least 30 cm² in order to prevent the manifestation of intraspecific aggression, which often ends in self-harm and death of pets. Also in the aquarium you need to place a large number of all kinds of shelters, such as ceramic pipes, clay shards, caves, grottoes and snags, so that each of the pets has a personal shelter and the opportunity to retire.


The leopard crab does not need sushi, so it feels quite comfortable in a regular aquarium. Although, if desired, you can keep pets in an aquaterrarium with islands of land protruding above the water in the form of snags and stones. King crabs tend to get out outside the aquarium. They leave the tank quite quickly, using aquarium equipment for this purpose - cords, hoses, tubes, etc. Taking this into account, it is important to ensure that the aquarium with pets is always covered, whether with glass, mesh or a lid, which will prevent the escape. Unlike other types of crabs that live on land for months and can freely do without a reservoir for a long period, the leopard crab spends most of its life under water, only occasionally getting out to land. Therefore, the gills of the animal dry out quite quickly, which, of course, can cause the death of the pet.

Shedding is one of the most difficult periods in the life of a crab, and how quickly a pet adapts after it depends largely on the conditions of detention, for example, on the quality of food, temperature regime and even lighting intensity. It is worth noting that crabs molt exclusively in water, so it is important that it is not contaminated with waste products. Therefore, care should be taken to filter and aerate the water. The water parameters in the aquarium must correspond to the conditions in natural environment habitat: temperature - 25–28 ° С, hardness - about 10 °, pH - about 8.0 (we need a slightly alkaline or neutral environment, but in no case acidic, as it prevents the hardening of the chitinous cover, which can adversely affect the pet ).

It is important to ensure that the crab aquarium contains a sufficient number of live aquarium plants of all kinds, as this provides the pets with a more complete nutritious diet. After all, in addition to specialized feed and food of animal origin, the king crab also needs plant food, on which depends normal growth, development and health of pets.



For those who saw king crabs for the first time in their lives, these animals make a great impression.

Kamchatka crab in its size is an outstanding representative of not only decapods, but also all crustaceans. Character traits the structures of crustaceans, reproduced on a large scale in the king crab, are sharply striking even with the most superficial glance at this animal.

The width of the shell of an average male king crab is about 16 centimeters, the span of its legs is almost 1 meter, and its weight exceeds 2 kilograms. The largest specimens reach 25 centimeters in shell width, one and a half meters in leg span and 7 kilograms of weight.

The body of the king crab consists of a cephalothorax covered with a common shell, and a belly folded under the cephalothorax. Therefore, if you look at the crab from above, only its shell and legs are visible. A powerful shell, with large sharp spikes, reliably protects the animal and, in addition, serves as a support for the muscles. The shell, like that of crayfish, grows together with the body only on the back, and on the sides it lags behind the walls of the body and hangs down like the sides of a jacket, covering the gills. The gills in the resulting cavities are protected from damage and at the same time are easily washed by water. In front of the cephalothorax, two pairs of antennae, eyes on stalks, jaws and legs are attached. Front edge the shell is armed with a sharp outgrowth that protects the eyes.

The belly of the crab, always bent under the cephalothorax, in females has special appendages for carrying eggs. The abdomen contains the intestines and internal genital organs. The first pair of crab legs is armed with powerful claws, the next three pairs are used for movement, and the last pair of reduced legs is always under the shell and is used to clean the gills. The muscles of the walking legs are very strongly developed.

What do king crabs eat?

Kamchatka crabs are predators. They eat sea bottom polychaetes, mollusks, amphipods, echinoderms, small sea acorns and other bottom animals. Prey crabs are torn apart by claws and with the help of legs and jaws they grind, grind and send to the mouth. The right - large - claw serves to crush shells of mollusks and skeletons of sea urchins. With its left claw, the crab can only tear soft prey. Very interesting experiences were carried out to find out what feeling crabs are guided by in search of prey. Food was lowered into a large aquarium where Kamchatka crabs were kept. The animal immediately reacted to the smell with the characteristic movements of the antennae and began to search for prey. The crab cannot determine the direction to the prey by smell, so it begins to move slowly, feeling the bottom with the ends of its claws. The crab lowers its claws vertically down and, touching the ground with the ends of the claws, quickly opens and closes them, as if clicking with scissors - if anything comes across. These probing movements are very energetic and "nervous".

The crab searches blindly, describing the most incredible loops along the bottom of the pool. As it approaches the feeder, when the smell of food intensifies, the crab becomes very excited and even more often feels the bottom with its claws. However, even in the immediate vicinity of the food (for example, at a distance of 1 cm from the end of the claws to the food), the crab repeatedly misses and moves away from it again. This suggests that the sense of smell and vision are poor helpers of the crab, and it finds its prey only with the help of touch.

Finally, the crab gropes for food with the tip of the claw and quickly grabs it with one claw or both at once. In search of prey, animals lost an unusually long time doing unnecessary a long way.

All my long life king crabs spend wandering, and every year they repeat the same route. The Kamchatka crab is an exclusively running animal and is completely unsuited for either swimming or burrowing into the ground. A crab cannot burrow, because then its open gills can become clogged with silt. Powerfully developed leg muscles allow you to overcome long distances. The crab runs both forward and sideways, alternately throwing out and bending its walking legs. In this case, the claws of the legs act like pegs stuck into the ground. The body while walking is supported on weight. The speed of movement of king crabs in a straight line reaches almost 2 kilometers per hour. However, the crab usually moves in zigzags, and the distance traveled by it per day does not exceed 10-13 kilometers. Individual crabs roam different directions, and the speed of movement of the entire school is only 2-4 kilometers per day. crab schools all year round walk within their migratory area. The size of such areas for one school is almost 200 kilometers. Some crabs fight off their schools and move into the schools of neighboring areas. The reason for such transitions is strong competition for food. Often animals move to those areas where there is more active fishing. There, the number of crabs due to fishing falls sharply, and competition for food decreases.

Where do king crabs winter?

Crab wintering sites are located quite far from the coast at depths of 110 to 200 meters. In fact, the crab does not hibernate, but continues to lead the same winter active image life, like summer. Departure to depth is explained more low temperatures water in shallow waters and ice formation. In spring, when the bays of the sea are cleared of ice, crabs move to shallower areas. During this period, males and females of king crabs stay in separate herds and move to the shore in parallel ways. Crab females carry eggs on their abdominal legs, which have been developing since last year, and in the middle of the journey of adult crabs to the shore, mass hatching of larvae occurs. The embryos of crabs, fully developed in eggs, for the translucent eyes of which they were given the name “caviar with eyes”, break the shells of eggs into two halves and float into the water column.

Reproduction of king crabs

Approximately one month after the start of migration, shoals of males and females meet in shallow waters and mix. The mating season is coming. Females at this time look very unpresentable: a dirty shell overgrown with shells of barnacles, empty shells from caviar on abdominal legs. Nevertheless, the males choose their girlfriends and pinch the claws of the females with their claws. In this “handshake” position, couples can stay from 3 to 7 days. Then the males help the females to molt, pulling off the contaminated old shell from them, and attach the spermatophores to the bases of the third pair of the female's walking legs. After that, the partners disperse. After some time, the female lays eggs on her abdominal legs, which are fertilized from the spermatophore and which the female wears until the next spring.

After mating, schools of females and males again migrate separately, now the crabs go in search of food and feed all summer. Before summer migration, males molt, but all alone, hiding among pitfalls. Crab shoals during the feeding period gradually move from one field to another. average speed about 4 kilometers per day, destroying a significant number of bottom animals.

Where do king crabs live?

The largest number of king crab, as the self-name says, is found off the coast of Kamchatka, as well as in Primorye. The area of ​​​​its distribution goes from the Posiet Bay through northern part Sea of ​​Japan, through the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and most of the Bering Sea along the Aleutian Islands to the Pacific coast of Canada.

In the waters of the seas washing the shores Far East our country, there is a creature called king crab. It belongs to the type of animals - crustaceans. Although outwardly the animal looks like a crab, scientists still classify it as a hermit crabs family, believing that its biological essence falls under this category.

We will not argue with them, but we will simply find out more closely - what kind of cancer is it, called the crab.

What is the appearance of the king crab?

It is believed that this is one of the largest representatives of crustaceans. The width of the shell is approximately 25 centimeters, and if the crab opens its legs, then the distance from one leg to the other will increase to one and a half meters! An average king crab weighs about 7.5 kilograms (although females are almost twice as light). The whole body of the animal is a fused head and chest (cephalothorax), covered with a large shell. The animal has no tail.

Inside, the crab is arranged as if backwards: its heart is located in the back of the body, and the stomach, on the contrary, is in the head. In total, the animal has ten limbs, but for “walking” it uses only eight legs. The remaining two legs are used as a "device" for clearing the gills.


The carapace and limbs of the animal have a dark red color, sometimes even with a purple tint, and the abdominal part is painted in a yellowish-white hue.

Where does the animal live?

Its territory of residence is considered to be the northern regions of the seas surrounding the Far East region, namely: the Kamchatka region, the territory of the Shantar and Kuril Islands, the shores of Sakhalin Island, the northern territory of the Sea of ​​Japan, the Bristol Bay, the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Bering Sea.

The lifestyle of the king crab

IN marine environment lives at a depth of 2 to 270 meters, choosing a flat sandy or muddy bottom for living. This crab cannot be called settled, it constantly migrates, but always along the same route.


In the cold season, it sinks deep to the bottom - up to 200 meters, and after wintering it rises to the upper layers of water warmed by the spring sun. Moulting in these animals (adults) occurs once a year, while not only the outer shell (shell) changes, but even the walls internal organs(heart, esophagus and stomach).

IN natural environment these creatures are able to live 15 - 20 years.

What does the king crab eat

The main food for this crab is worms, sea ​​urchins, small fish, plankton and a variety of shellfish.

The mating season and offspring of the king crab


The breeding season is for these marine life at the beginning of spring. After mating games mating occurs in the male and female, as a result of which the female lays great amount eggs (up to 400 thousand!).

The eggs hatch into small larvae, only the size of a small fly. The “newborn” crab has no legs, and in general it is poorly protected. That is why the larva settles to the bottom, in a thicket of underwater plants, and lives there for about two months. Three years after birth, a small crab moves from the old "place of residence" and begins to live on sandy soil. When a baby king crab is 5-7 years old, it begins the process of migration.

Who are the natural enemies of the king crab?


These underwater inhabitants become prey for sea otters, cod and other fish, gobies, hairy quadrangular crab. But the first place in the extermination of this species, undoubtedly, belongs to man.

What is the interest of people? Why do they hunt these marine life?


The answer is obvious - a person is ready to uncontrollably consume everything that brings him benefit and benefit. So the king crab was no exception because of its most valuable, incredibly tasty and healthy meat. Mass capture that continued for a long time, led to a sharp decline in the number of this species of marine animals. Therefore, strict state control is currently established on the extraction of king crabs. Unfortunately, this ban did not affect the activities of poachers, and they still, breaking the law, catch these marine inhabitants for profit.

Hello dear aquarists!

ABOUT freshwater shrimp and crayfish I already told. It's time to introduce you to freshwater crab. So!

King leopard crab(Parathelphusa pantherina) - a freshwater crab that absolutely does not need land plots: it is perfectly limited to the bottom! No, he can climb onto land, but he does it extremely rarely.

The appearance of a leopard crab in an aquarium rightfully arouses admiration and catches the eye of the observer: of course! Just look at the colors: the crab is painted in the perfect combination of pastel colors - the beige color of the carapace (that is, the “boxes”, the body) and claws, and is all strewn with dark brown dots. The spectacle is amazing!

By the way: it is precisely because of the perfect combination of color and dots that the color of the crab is very similar to the body color of a leopard, hence the name - leopard. And the name "Royal" crab got for its size: the diameter of the carapace ("box") is 5 centimeters, the width is 3-4 centimeters, and the length of the entire crab - together with claws - reaches 15 centimeters! Well, why not His Majesty?!

The homeland of the king leopard crab is Indonesia. In nature, it lives in water bodies, with a fairly high hardness it reaches 8 (Ph), at a temperature of + 28 * C. But they can also live in cooler water + 20 * C: the main condition is not lower than + 20 * C.

The crab does not need in the aquarium acidic water: Neutral water and low hardness are sufficient - only 10 *.

leopard crab

An aquarium for a crab should be equipped in the same way as for a crayfish: driftwood, stones, empty pots - all this is used as shelter and housing.

You should not plant several male crabs in one aquarium: they will fight and fight to the death! The optimal solution: one male and two or three females.

Food for a leopard crab in an aquarium should be complete and varied. The term "nutrition" means shrimp meat, pieces of frozen or boiled sea ​​fish(fillet), chicken (fillet), plants (lettuce leaves that need to be chopped, pieces of zucchini, cucumber). In general, both protein and carbohydrates should be present. It is highly recommended to add eggshell powder to the diet of crabs: this is the calcium that crabs need to form a new shell during the molting period.

By the way, about molting. This period in the life of a crab that lives in natural conditions differs sharply from the period of a crab living in an aquarium.

The fact is that under natural conditions, the crab prepares for molting at the hormonal level, since in nature everything is clearly predetermined: both the water temperature and its parameters (acidity, aeration, etc.). There are no such conditions in the aquarium: only you create them! Yes, friends: in the aquarium you act as Neptune and everything depends on you and your attention.

Therefore, you need to know the following:
Firstly, with crabs they never turn off!
Secondly, you can’t overfeed the crab, because the crab begins to secrete more waste products, thereby poisoning its own habitat (well, you won’t take it to the toilet - it will leave with the outflow of water in the toilet bowl).
Thirdly, at the time of molting, the crab should not experience.

How to find out? Simple: ask him! Joke. You don't need to know this if you follow a simple rule: balanced diet- guarantee of health and longevity. This means that you need to feed the crab twice a day: for example. in the morning they gave him a piece of meat, and in the evening - a piece of cucumber. The next day in the morning they gave boiled fish or shrimp, and in the evening - lettuce and a piece of zucchini.

Keep the bottom clean: remove waste in a timely manner.

And finally - a warning: although the leopard crab does not like land, it can still get out of the aquarium, and how! Therefore, if you do not want to look for it for half a day, then close the aquarium with a lid.

That's all. I hope you liked the article. On the sim, let me bow. See you in the next articles!