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Red King Crab Video Stock Footage
The red king crab is the largest species of king crab. Red king crabs can reach a carapace width of up to 28 cm (11 in), a leg span of 1.8 m (5.9 ft), and a weight of 12.7 kg (28 lb). Males grow larger than females. Today red king crabs infrequently surpass 17 cm (7 in) in carapace width and the average male landed in the Bering Sea weighs 2.9 kg (6.4 lb). It was named after the color it turns when it is cooked rather than the color of a living animal, which tends to be more burgundy. Red king crabs are experiencing a steady decline in numbers in their native far east coastal waters for unclear reasons, though several theories for the precipitous drop in the crab population have been proposed, including overfishing, warmer waters, and increased fish predation. Fishing controls set by the United States in the 1980s and 2000s have failed to stem the decline. Learn more about Red King Crab
View related species in family group: Crab
Animalia: Arthropoda: Decapoda: Malacostraca: Lithodidae: Paralithodes camtschaticus