Wildlife
Spider crabs are a family of long, skinny-legged crabs containing over 700 species. Often small and slow-moving, some species look like bits of debris and further camouflage themselves by adorning the bristles and spines of their exoskeleton with algae, seaweed and corals. This family contains the largest known arthropod - the Japanese spider crab - which has a leg span of four metres.
Scientific name: Majidae
Rank: Family
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Moulting and mating
Thousands of spider crabs set off on a mission.
Off the coast of Australia hundreds of thousands of spider crabs come out of their shells and mate. But this story of liberation and love has a sting in its tail...
Shallow sea diving
Simon discovers underwater wildlife gems only metres off the Dorset coast.
Simon discovers underwater wildlife gems only metres off the Dorset coast.
The Spider crabs can be found in a number of locations including: Mediterranean. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
Discover the other animals and plants that lived during the following geological time periods.
Majidae is a family of crabs, comprising around 200 marine species with a carapace that is longer than it is broad, and which forms a point at the front. The legs can be very long in some species, leading to the name "spider crab". The exoskeleton is covered with bristles to which the crab attaches algae and other items to act as camouflage.
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Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.
Seaside spectacular
When it comes to summer holidays, there's no better place than the seaside and if you know where to look you'll be surprised at the wildlife you can find.
The wildlife of Life
In autumn 2009, a major new series brought us life as we've never seen it before.
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Eocene epoch
Oligocene epoch
Miocene epoch
Pliocene epoch
Pleistocene epoch
Holocene epoch