Walking Sideways: The Remarkable World of Crabs

by Judith S. Weis

The world's nearly 7,000 species of crabs are immediately recognizable by their claws, sideways movement, stalked eyes, and thick outer shells. These common crustaceans are found internationally, thriving in various habitats from the edge of the sea to the depths of the ocean, in fresh water or on land. Despite having the same basic body type as decapod crustaceans-true crabs have heavy exoskeletons and ten limbs with front pincer claws-crabs come in an enormous variety of shapes and sizes, from the near microscopic to the giant Japanese spider crab.

In Walking Sideways, Judith S. Weis provides an engaging and informative tour of the remarkable world of crabs, highlighting their unique biology and natural history. She introduces us to recently discovered crabs such as the Yeti crab found in deep sea vents, explains what scientists are learning about blue and hermit crabs commonly found at the shore, and gives us insight into the lifecycles of the king and Dungeness crabs typically seen only on dinner plates. Among the topics Weis covers are the evolution and classification of crabs, their habitats, unique adaptations to water and land, reproduction and development, behavior, ecology, and threats, including up-to-date research.

Crabs are of special interest to biologists for their communication behaviors, sexual dimorphism, and use of chemical stimuli and touch receptors, and Weis explains the importance of new scientific discoveries. In addition to the traditional ten-legged crabs, the book also treats those that appear eight-legged, including hermit crabs, king crabs, and sand crabs. Sidebars address topics of special interest, such as the relationship of lobsters to crabs and medical uses of compounds derived from horseshoe crabs (which aren't really crabs).

While Weis emphasizes conservation and the threats that crabs face, she also addresses the use of crabs as food (detailing how crabs are caught and cooked) and their commercial value from fisheries and aquaculture. She highlights other interactions between crabs and people, including keeping hermit crabs as pets or studying marine species in the laboratory and field. Reminding us of characters such as The Little Mermaid's Sebastian and Sherman Lagoon's Hawthorne, she also surveys the role of crabs in literature (for both children and adults), film, and television, as well in mythology and astrology. With illustrations that offer delightful visual evidence of crab diversity and their unique behaviors, Walking Sideways will appeal to anyone who has encountered these fascinating animals on the beach, at an aquarium, or in the kitchen.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Animals, Natural History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 23, 2012

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read overall, with lots of photos, but it felt sort of unfinished to me -- or maybe the author wasn't sure what kind of book she wanted this to be, and compromised a little too much. This was neither a whole-hog introduction to crab science, nor an exploration into popular crab lore. It was a little too scientific to be really aimed at the mass of crab lovers, but not quite exploratory enough into the crabs of film and literature to really satisfy me. Speaking as someone who owns her own copies of ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS and ISLAND CLAWS, I may have been asking too much, but if she's going to tell us all the memorabilia you can buy with Sebastian the Crab on it, why no discussion of Crusty the Crab in THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET, for Pete's sake? And how can she really not know that the killer crab in MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, which she said reminded her of a stone crab, is a specimen of the very crab she mentions just a few pages later, Cancer pagurus? I also longed for a discussion of the crab monster in other media. I also need to say that subject-verb agreement was a problem on every page in this book. With all that said I will read this again with pleasure.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book on crabs. This is an example on how a person's passion can be so profound that they can devote a long time to creating a little masterpiece on thorough investigation. Loved this little-big treaty on crabs.

[Alyssa Schuette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a lot about crabs (like the Yeti crab!). I wish the photos were closer to where they were referenced in the text (I found myself flipping through pages a lot) but I appreciated being able to see the crab without having to Google it. I was also surprised to learn about all the ways to eat crabs! Haha

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always had a special place in my heart for -- crabs. Imagine my delight when I saw this book on the library shelf! Although it was pretty technical (written by a biology professor), I skimmed through to find some interesting facts, such as crabs live everywhere from on land to 11,000 feet deep in the Gulf of Alaska. Great pictures. Loved the Pom Pom crab -- he has tiny arms, so he carries a sea anemone in each claw for defense!

[Emily Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't get into this book. The writing was a tad dispassionate, making it read like a textbook.