Why do we always use crabs to describe someone’s foul mood? When someone is angry, we tell them not to be “crabby”. Are crabs naturally irritable?

Crab has a tendency to nip painfully with its claws and firmly hold on, making it an excellent metaphor for a difficult, uncooperative or an angry person. Thus, the words  “crabby” and “crabbed,” for such people.

Well enough about crabby, let us talk about crabs now. Crabs belong to a crustacean family. Since they have ten legs they are called decapods. Out of these, the first pair of legs are modified as claws. They are different from us humans as they have a skeleton (hard shell) on the outside. The sizes of crabs can range from a small marble to that of several meters. The smallest known crab is the Pea Crab, as small as a pea; while the largest crab is the famous Japanese Spider Crab.

Crabs are mostly omnivorous as they eat edible algae, shellfish bed, snails, mussels and seaweed. Some of the strange facts about strange crabs are –

• Most crabs have a lifespan of three years, but the Japanese Spider Crabs are known to live for a century and more. 100 years! That’s long!

• Fiddler Crabs only have one claw which makes them stand out. They can be good household pets.

• Sally Lightfoot Crab is the most colorful crab around.

• Coconut crab, because it eats coconuts, which it finds by climbing the palm trees where the nuts grow. Sometimes it also steals shiny items from nearby houses. And these are just a few imagine how many more are out there?