GC: n

S: SciELO – http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-81752001000200026 (last access: 26 July 2016); BBC – http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Majidae (last access: 26 July 2016).

N: 1. – spider (n): late 14c., spydyr, from earlier spiþre, spiþur, spiþer (14c.), from Old English spiðra, from Proto-Germanic *spin-thron- (cognate with Danish spinder), literally “the spinner,” from *spen-wo- “to spin” + formative or agential *-thro.

– crab (n): crustacean, Old English crabba, from a general Germanic root (compare Dutch krab, Old High German krebiz, German Krabbe, Old Norse krabbi “crab”), related to Low German krabben, Dutch krabelen “to scratch, claw,” from PIE root *gerbh- “to scratch, carve”.
Spider crab is from 1710, used of various species

2. Spider crab, any species of the decapod family Majidae (or Maiidae; class Crustacea). Spider crabs, which have thick, rather rounded bodies and long, spindly legs, are generally slow-moving and sluggish. Most are scavengers, especially of dead flesh.

3. Majids, a widely distributed marine group, are fished commercially in temperate waters, such as in the North Pacific. Some are quite small; for example, the long-beaked spider crab (Macropodia rostrata) of European coastal waters has a body about 1 cm (less than 0.5 inch) in diameter. The largest spider crab, and perhaps the largest known arthropod, is the giant crab of the Pacific.

4. A crab of the family Majidae.

5. spinous spider crab: trade name recommended by the “Comité de normalisation de la terminologie des pêches commerciales” and by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

6. Cultural Interrelation: Sea Quest: Sythid the Spider Crab (2019): Book 17 by Adam Blade.

S: 1. Etymonline – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Spider+crab (last access: 26 July 2016). 2 & 3. EncBrit – https://global.britannica.com/animal/spider-crab (last access: 26 July 2016). 4 & 5. TERMIUM PLUS – http://goo.gl/CAQTiS (last access: 26 July 2016). 6. Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Quest-Sythid-Spider-Crab/dp/1408334712 (last access: 3 October 2024).

SYN: spinous spider crab, spiny crab.

S: GDT – http://goo.gl/tCZcPi (last access: 26 July 2016); TERMIUM PLUS – http://goo.gl/CAQTiS (last access: 26 July 2016).

CR: arthropod, edible crab, scampi, spider, spiny lobster.