King Crab Anatomy: Legs, Claws, Body & Edible Sections
King crab anatomy is unusual compared with the “true crabs” most people recognize. King crabs are anomurans, a group that also includes hermit crabs. Their body plan explains why a whole king crab can appear to have fewer visible legs than expected and why most retail king crab is sold as large leg sections rather than as picked body meat.
Carapace: The Main Body Shell
The hard upper shell is the carapace. It protects the internal organs and provides attachment points for muscles that operate the legs and mouthparts. King crab shells are heavily armored and covered with spines, which is one reason kitchen shears are useful when preparing large sections for serving.
How Many Legs Does a King Crab Have?
King crabs are decapods, meaning they have five pairs of appendages associated with locomotion and feeding. The first pair ends in claws. Three pairs are the large walking legs that are most obvious when looking at a whole crab. The final pair is much smaller and tucked beneath the rear of the carapace, so it is easy to miss.
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This reduced fifth pair is one of the features that makes king crab anatomy look different from familiar crabs such as Dungeness.
Claws
The front pair of appendages bears the claws, or chelae. They are used for feeding, handling objects, and defense. The two claws may differ somewhat in size and function, but simplified “crusher versus pincer” descriptions used for some other crab species should not be treated as a universal rule for every king crab.
Walking Legs
The long walking legs are the most commercially familiar part of king crab. Large muscle sections inside these legs produce the long pieces of meat associated with king crab dinners. Retail products may include whole legs, sections, clusters, or smaller King Crab Leg Pieces.
The Small Hidden Pair of Legs
The fifth pair is reduced and normally held beneath the carapace rather than used like the large walking legs. These small appendages help with grooming, including cleaning areas that the larger legs cannot easily reach.
Abdomen
The abdomen is folded beneath the body. Its shape differs between males and females and is associated with reproduction. It should not be confused with the large external abdomen seen in lobsters.
Why King Crab Is Usually Sold as Legs
King crab's large walking legs contain substantial, easy-to-portion sections of meat. That makes legs especially convenient for processing, freezing, shipping, and serving. Whole crab is also sold, but leg formats dominate many retail presentations.
To compare current formats, browse the King Crab collection. For a whole-crab preparation, see our Live King Crab Cooking Guide.
Preparing Different Parts
Before cooking, determine whether the product is raw or already cooked. Cooked frozen legs generally need reheating, while raw crab requires full cooking. For cooked legs, see How to Reheat King Crab Legs. For serving large shell-on portions, kitchen shears can make cleaner openings than crushing the shell.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a king crab look like it has only eight legs?
The last pair is much smaller and tucked beneath the carapace, so the two claws and six large walking legs are the appendages most people notice.
Where is most of the familiar king crab meat?
The large walking legs and claw sections provide the long, substantial pieces most commonly sold and served as king crab.
Is king crab a true crab?
King crabs are decapod crustaceans, but taxonomically they are anomurans rather than brachyurans, the group commonly called true crabs.
Do all king crab products cook the same way?
No. Raw crab must be cooked, while precooked frozen crab generally needs only reheating. Always check the product label or description.
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