Japanese Giant Spider Crabs (NHMW-Zoo-CR 4381)

3D Model

3D scan of two giant spider crabs (Macrocheira kaempferi). These large specimens where a gift from the Japanese Emperor Meiji to Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1882. With a leg span of up to 4 meters, these crabs are the largest living crustaceans in the world. They can weight up to 20 kilograms and are only found in the Pacific Ocean around the Japanese Islands.

The Japanese giant spider crabs are Number 48 of the NHM Top 100 and can be found in Hall 23 of the NHM Vienna, right behind the giant clam.

Specimen: Macrocheira kaempferi (Temminck, 1836)

Inventory number: NHMW-Zoo-CR 4381

Collection: Natural History Museum Vienna, 3rd Zoological Dept., Crustacean Coll. (curator: Martin Schwentner)

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Scanned and edited by Anna Haider & Viola Winkler (NHMW)