10 Clawsome Crab Facts We Love

Crabs are pretty fascinating little creatures, and they look clawsome on Sophie's Lobster & Crab collection. If you’re feeling a little crabby and looking to add to your knowledge of facts, then we hope these 10 crab facts will lighten up your mood.

1. There are two different kinds of crab, true crabs and false crabs... True crabs are also known as brachyurans and have short abdomens and eight legs, there are almost 7,000 species of true crab which includes blue crabs, spider crabs and ghost crabs. While false crabs, also known as anomurans, have longer abdomens and fewer legs, this includes hermit crabs, king crabs, porcelain crabs and squat lobsters.
2. The pea crab is the smallest known crab... And the award for the smallest crab in the world goes to the pea crab, (pinnothera faba), which can measure between 0.27 and 0.47 inches long. You might find them in oysters, mussels and clams where they seek safety, food and oxygen.
3. The largest crab is the Japanese spider crab... From the smallest crab to the largest, the Japanese spider crab has a leg span of approximately four metres and weighs on average around 40 pounds. The female Japanese spider crab can lay up to 1.5 million eggs per season.
4. A group of crabs is called a cast... Well, now you know if you’re walking along the beach and spot a group of crabs, you can call them by their collective name, a cast. However, it’s very unlikely that you’ll see a group of crabs unless it’s an adult crab with their babies.
5. Crabs communicate with each other... They drum and wave their pincers to communicate with each other, they can also be aggressive to one another as males will fight over the females and for the best hiding holes.
6. There are 62 species of crab in British waters... One of the most common crabs you’ll find in British waters is the common shore crab, but you’ll also find hermit crabs, edible crabs, velvet swimming crabs, masked crabs, angular crabs, Chinese mitten crabs and common spider crabs, just to name a few.
7. Most crabs walk sideways... Crabs can actually shuffle forwards but very slowly, they walk sideways because they are much quicker that way as their legs are attached to the sides of their bodies, and their joints bend that way.
8. Crabs are decapods which means ten-footed... Crabs are decapods from the crustacean family, and decapods have ten legs, however as mentioned earlier true crabs actually have eight legs as the first pair are its claws, also called chelae.
9. Some crabs can see all around them – 360 degrees... Crabs have eyes on their stalks which are attached to their heads and lets them see all around, 360 degrees. When hiding in the sand, they can even use their eyestalk as a periscope.
10. Sophie Allport’s new Lobster & Crab collection is crabtastic... You can find these cute creatures on Sophie’s Lobster & Crab design, which is inspired by Sophie's Norfolk coastal holidays and crabbing with her three boys. The new collection features on a range of homewares, accessories and fine bone china, perfect for bringing the coast into your home this summer.

If you enjoyed our clawsome crab facts, then we think you’d enjoy our facts about lobster too! What do you think about this coastal design? Let us know in the comments below!