Claws. Small catalog of crabs, shrimps and hermit crabs

Since childhood, crabs, shrimps and hermit crabs have populated the collective imagination: protagonists, in spite of themselves, of catches and observations on the beach or among the rocks, they constitute a surprisingly varied and interesting slice of biodiversity. Endowed with good eyesight, articulated legs and pincer claws worthy of the best mechanics, they move stealthily from the tidal zone to the ocean depths, but they have been able to extend their dominance beyond the sea: there are crabs that live in rivers, that move in large armies on the ground of tropical forests, migrating en masse, and that even hide inside carnivorous plants.

Some crustaceans, such as the huge thief crab, have colonised dry land and are inexplicably attracted to human objects (which they willingly steal), others are tiny and closely related to other animals. This book, with Giulia De Amicis’s beautiful illustrations, is a eulogy to the diversity and beauty of crustaceans: an army of multicoloured armour and claws, conquering the boundary between the emerged and submerged worlds.