Day: March 4, 2014

I get into some weird conversations when my 6 yr old Grandson JJ is over at my house. Here is one of many conversations.

We were looking at pictures of crabs on the internet. I made the comment that they are like spiders in the ocean. So I showed him pictures of spiders that have similar body types and legs. The conversation got out of hand to say the least.

Me: JJ, this is what a crab looks like before we eat them.
JJ: I love crab legs, can we go get some at Red Lobster. ( A kid after my own heart)
Me: Not right now, I have no money… But we can look at pictures ( funny look on his face)
JJ: Crabs look cool
Me: Yeah, they look like big spiders, but they swim in the ocean. And spiders are on land (Showing Tarantula Pics)
JJ: That’s AWESOME(Evil Chuckle as he says that)
Me: Why is that awesome JJ. Do you like spiders
JJ: NO!!! Do they taste like crab legs.
Me: I don’t know, I never tired and never want to
JJ: That would be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Cool (Me picturing him chasing a spider with a fork)
Me: I don’t think you want to eat spiders because they might bite you on your lip if you did that.
JJ: Would I go to heaven if it bit me?
Me: I would make sure you didn’t die and you will have a swollen lip that is ugly, lol
JJ: That isn’t a nice spider
Me: JJ please don’t go eating spiders and only eat crab legs when you go to Red Lobster or parents give it to you, lol
JJ: OK! Then can I get a GI Joe at Target

I think I need to remember that JJ is impressionable and doesn’t have a big fear factor going on. Shoot, this kid eats the lollipops with worms and crickets. So I need to make sure he doesn’t have a fork in hand while chasing spiders around the room.

Are Spiders and Crabs Related?

I had to look this up and found it on webanwers.com. I’m not knowledgeable when it comes to matters like this. And spiders are NOT my favorite topic,,,

Crabs and spiders are distantly related. They are both invertebrates (animals that lack internal bony skeletons). They are both in the phylum Arthropoda (animals which have jointed legs, an external skeleton of chitin, and a segmented body).

Spiders are in the subphylum Chelicerata which includes the horseshoe crabs and sea spiders but not the true crabs. True crabs are in the subphylum Crustacea which also includes animals such as shrimp, lobsters, and barnacles.

Spiders are all terrestrial while the crabs are nearly all fully aquatic with a few terrestrial species which still are closely tied to the water. While the spiders and crabs share a common ancestor so they are related, they are not closely related. The two groups are about as closely related as mammals are to fish.