Claws
The Claws exhibition at Hunstanton features some of the seas most spectacular crustaceans from around the world. Japanese Spider Crabs, Lobsters, Horseshoe crabs, Fiddler Crabs and the powerful Mantis Shrimp are all on display for visitors to see.
Japanese Spider Crabs
The Japanese Spider Crab is one of the largest anthropods known; when fully grown, males have been known to measure 3.7 metres from the tip of one outstretched claw to another. In males the claws grow to be larger than the legs. The crabs natural habitat is 50-300 mteres below sea level in the Pacific Ocean near Japan. They are flown from Japan to Hunstanton in special crates and spend a couple of weeks in the Marine Hospital to acclimatise before going on diplay.
Horseshoe Crabs
Perhaps one of the most pre-historic looking sea creatures, the Horseshoe Crab has evolved little in the last 250 million years, yet continues to survive due to its hard curved shell. This makes it harder for predators to overturn the crab and expose its softer, vulnerable underbelly. The Horseshoe Crab uses its tail like a rudder to plough through sand and muck and to right itself when accidently tipped over. They are native to the Gulf of Mexico and North American stretches of the Atlantic Ocean.
Mantis Shrimp
One of the most powerful sea creatures, with the abilitly to pack a punch that has the equivelant impact of a .22 bullet, the Mantis Shrimp is no shrimp; it gets its name from its physical resemblance to the Praying Mantis and the shrimp. Mantis Shrimp were once refferred to as "sea locusts" but modern divers now call them "thumb splitters" for the ease with which they mutilate such apendages. The Mantis Shrimps attack their prey with powerful claws that are formed like jackknives; spearing, stunning or dismembering victims. Yet their claws are not the only point of interest for the Manta Shrimp for they vary in colour from a dull brown to bright neon and have eyes that are considered to be the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.
Seperated by a few feet of glass and walkways that offer easy access and great views of the sea life, the under water populace is completed by a selection of lobsters and fiddler crabs.
