Posted on 05/02/2010 5:29:48 PM PDT by nickcarraway
This monster from the deep is one of the largest edible crab ever caught in the UK — with claws the size of a human fist.
Titan, who packs a 60cm "claw span", was found in a lobster pot belonging to Mylor fisherman Ned Bailey, five miles south east of Falmouth, Cornwall. The chunky crustacean tips the scales at 3.5kg (8 lbs) and has a 26cm (10.2in) shell and a pair of fist-sized claws.
Marine experts believe he may be the largest known living specimen of edible crab in the UK.
Titan will be spared the pot because of his size and has instead gone on display at the Blue Reef Aquarium in nearby Newquay. Matt Slater, curator of the aquarium, said: "Ned called us as he knew Titan was a magnificent specimen.
"You often hear reports of giant crabs and take them with a pinch of salt. However, Titan really is a bit of a monster.
"He's twice as big as any other edible crab we have ever had at the aquarium. His claws alone are absolutely massive!
"He's in fantastic condition and is quite feisty so you do have to take care when handling him. There's no accurate way of working out how old he actually is – but judging on his size alone he must be close to 20 years, if not even older."
Britain's largest species of crab, the edible crab uses its giant claws to crush and tear its prey, which includes a variety of shellfish, including mussels. The crab is also a highly successful scavenger.
Tests have shown that edible crabs' claws have the crushing strength of over 90lb per square inch (PSI). An average person's hand is only capable of squashing with the force of 25PSI.
The largest individual previously caught in the UK was caught in 2008 by a diver at Lyme Bay, Dorset. It weighed 17lb and had a shell width of 12 inches.
That crab is lucky I didn’t catch him because as far as I’m concerned he’d have been great with drawn butter!
When I see that I only thing about two things - How much meat would 8lbs eat? And, do I need to run to the store to get more butter?
You're gonna need a bigger pot...
Sacre bleu
What is this?
How on earth could I miss
Such a sweet little succulent crab?
Quel dommage
What a loss
Here we go in the sauce
Now some flour, I think
Just a dab
Now I stuff you with bread
It don’t hurt ‘cause you’re dead
And you’re certainly lucky you are
‘Cause it’s gonna be hot
In my big silver pot
Toodle loo mon poisson
Au revoir!
A crab bit me once.
I was probably 8 or 10, something like that. My dad, my uncle, and my brother all told me not to tease the crabs in the bucket (we had caught them all*), but I didn’t obey. One of the crabs grabbed my finger and it hurt like mad.
They didn’t have to warn me again.
* We caught them the usual way. String, bait, net on pole.
LOL!
Crabzilla!
Now I have to go back into therapy. Thanks a lot.
what kind of damage would those pinchers do?
Dr. Martha ‘Marti’ Hunter: “But Doctor, that theory doesn’t explain why Jules’ and Carson’s minds have turned against us.”
Dale Brewer: “Preservation of the species. Once they were men. Now they are land crabs.”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050147/
C’est Brilliant, Mon Ami!
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