Crab Coloring Pages

Crab Group Names and Homes

Crab belongs to a big group of animals with 10 legs. Just like its group name says, Crab usually has 10 legs total, including its claws. Crab can live in many places. You can find Crab on sandy beaches, rocky shores, freshwater rivers, and deep oceans where sunlight cannot reach. Crab changed its shape, size, and color to live in these different places.

Fun Types of Crab

Snow Crab: Beautiful Deep-Sea Crab

Snow Crab has long and pretty legs.

• Home and Size: Snow Crab likes to live in deep sand or mud, far down in the ocean. Boy Crab grows to about 14 centimeters wide and looks very cool when it spreads its legs. Girl Crab is much smaller.

• Body Features: Its shell looks like a smooth triangle. You can draw its long legs on your coloring page!

King Crab: Big Northern Crab with Spikes

King Crab is a huge Crab that is related to hermit crabs.

• Home and Size: King Crab lives in cold seas. It is called the king of Crab because its shell can grow wider than 25 centimeters!

• Body Features: King Crab has sharp, hard spikes all over its shell and legs. You can only see 8 legs on the outside because 2 small legs are hidden inside its shell.

Japanese Spider Crab: Giant of the Deep Sea

Japanese Spider Crab is the biggest bug-like animal in the world!

• Size: When Japanese Spider Crab spreads its long legs, it can reach over 3 meters wide!

• Home: It lives deep in the sea. Have fun making its super long legs look grand on your coloring page!

Japanese Freshwater Crab: Small River Crab

Japanese Freshwater Crab is a small Crab that lives in clean streams in Japan.

• Life: It stays in fresh water all its life and likes to hang out around rocks.

• Body Features: It is very small, with a shell about 2 to 3 centimeters wide. Its body is round so it can easily hide under rocks.

Fiddler Crab: Crab with One Giant Claw

Fiddler Crab lives in warm mudflats.

• Body Features: Boy Fiddler Crab has one claw that grows super big. That claw can be as big as its whole body!

• Name Secret: When it waves its big claw, it looks like it is calling the ocean waves!

Swimming Crab: Great Ocean Swimmer

Swimming Crab is a sea Crab that can swim very well.

• Paddle Legs: Its back legs are flat like boat paddles.

• Life: Swimming Crab uses these flat legs to float up and swim fast in the water.

Crab Body: Hard Shells and Molting

Crab has a hard shell on the outside to protect its body, so it does not have bones inside. This shell cannot grow bigger. To grow up, Crab sheds its old shell and gets a bigger new shell! Crab walks in fun ways too. Many types walk sideways, but some types can swim, and others can walk forward at an angle.

Coloring Tips to Make Crab Look Real

Layering colors is the secret to showing the hard shell and sharp claws of Crab!

• Use shading to make it pop: Make the middle of the shell lighter, and use darker colors toward the edges. This makes Crab look round and real! For a bumpy Crab like the King Crab, add shadow at the base of the bumps to make them look extra rough.

• Pick colors for "Raw" or "Cooked": Live Crab can be bluish-gray or dull reddish-brown depending on the kind. But if you want it to look like delicious food, use bright orange and red! Leave a little bit of white paper showing to make it shiny.

Fun Ideas for the Background

Think about where Crab lives when you color the background. It will make your picture look awesome!

• Under the sea: For Crab that lives deep in the ocean, like the Spider Crab or Snow Crab, shade the background from deep blue to green. Draw bubbles and seaweed to make it feel like the deep sea!

• On the beach or by the river: For Crab that lives in mudflats or rivers, like the Fiddler Crab or Japanese Freshwater Crab, draw tiny sand dots and rough rocks. Add a little green to the rocks for moss to make it look real!

Little Details Matter

• Eyes and claws: Crab has eyes that stick out! Color them dark black to bring your picture to life. Color the tips of the claws darker, and carefully color the bumpy parts to show how strong Crab is!

Is the Red King Crab Actually a "Hermit Crab"?

Red king crabs are sold at the store. They have "crab" in their name, but science says they are actually in the "hermit crab" group! If you look closely, Crab has fewer legs than a regular crab. It only has 8 legs including its claws, while a normal crab has 10!

Why Do They "Walk Sideways"?

The leg joints of Crab bend to the "sides" of its body, not forward like your knees. Because of this, its legs would get all tangled up if it tried to walk forward. So, it walks sideways to move smoothly!

Claws and Legs Can "Grow Back"

Even if Crab loses a leg from an enemy attack, it is totally okay. Every time it sheds its shell, a new leg slowly grows back. In the end, it returns to normal! Crab has amazing strength to live.

Why Do They Blow Bubbles?

When Crab blows bubbly foam from its mouth, it means it is trying hard to breathe on land. It moves water inside its body to keep its gills from drying out. When that water mixes with air, it turns into foam that looks just like soap!

Claws of Different Sizes (Fiddler Crab)

A male fiddler crab has one huge claw on just one side! It waves this big claw around to propose to female crabs, saying, "Marry me!" It also uses the claw to chase other male crabs away.