A worldwide cullinary delicasy: The Crab

There are more than 4,000 species of crabs worldwide, including the world's largest crustaceans to ones that are not bigger than a pea. Most crabs live in or at least close to water, though some only return to the water to breed, like salmons. Crabs usually can swim very well, but many shore-dwelling species can also scuttle (Scuttle means moving very quickly away.) sideways away from danger at high speed.

Despite their different shapes, sizes and their way of moving, crabs are actually very close relatives to the lobsters! Which sadly happened to be a delicious gourmet entree as well. Just a side note on the subject on food here for a second, the lobster pasta, called the Capelli D'Angelo with Lobster, and the crab spaghetti, known as the Linguine with Crab, are very yummy Italian noodles served before the main course meal.

Anyway, back to the subject on crabs, a crab's body looks as if it has been stretched sideways and, in the most species, is covered by hard and chalky shell. Speaking of shells, here's a crab that's quite interesting, it's called the Decorator Crab. You might ask "What's a Decorator Crab, Tammy?" Well, a decorator crab is a kind of spider crab. Like many Spider Crabs, those crabs doctorate themselves to match themselves just like the environment to hide from predators, this is called camouflage.

What the Decorator Crab does is it takes everything, such as sponges and seaweed, and start draping all over its body. I'd say this guy is an expert at its work! Since it is its self-defense mechanism, so it has to work. And it works like a magic all right. Because we won't be able to see them even during the daytime as it can sit very still, especially when it's among weed covered rocks. Like other camouflage carrying spiders crabs, it fastens its camouflage in place with the hundreds of tiny hooks that covers its body. The only time when they lose its "protection" is when it's molting, which means they lost their old smaller shell behind because they got bigger, and the crabs have to rebuilt their new covering again.