WHAT is a King Crab? A spider? An Insect? No, it may be wrongly called a King Crab, or Horseshoe crab, but in fact it is a member of the Arachnid family - so its closest relatives are scorpions and spiders. The King Crab lives throughout Southeast Asia and along the Atlantic coast of North America. All King Crabs have four pairs of legs, no antennae and only two body divisions. The head and thorax are combined. In comparison, insects have three body parts, three pairs of legs, and wings. Crustacea, such as crabs, lobsters and shrimps, have many pairs of legs, two body divisions and two pairs of antennae. King Crabs have 'escaped evolution' and, along with scorpions and starfish, are believed to have existed for more than 150 million years. The young resemble the now extinct trilobite, often seen in fossil remains. Hong Kong has two species of King Crabs - a giant one, Tachypleus Gigas , which grows up to 40 cm wide, and a tiny one, Tachypleus Tidentatus , about four to six centimetres wide - which can be found on some sandy beaches at low tide. They swim and walk and feed on small clams and worms. Their favourite meal appears to be the Peanut Worm, which contracts into a small peanut shape and makes beautiful star-shaped patterns in the sand. The World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong is a local charity environmental organisation established in 1981. For more information, please call 2526-1011