What do Malaysians like best? Food!
Nasi lemak, cendol, satay, roti canai, curries and kuih – these are the little wonders in life we would be missing out on without our sense of taste.
It has been said that other animals have different taste receptors than humans do, while others have no taste receptors at all.
On the flipside, it has also been said that certain animals, such as crabs, taste things with parts of their bodies that are not their mouth.
Is it true that crabs taste with their claws?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Every living thing in the world is part of the food chain. It’s a harsh world out there, and every animal needs to eat to live.
As we feast on a yummy chilli crab, the live crabs scuttling about on the seafloor are gorging themselves on delicious prawns, snails, worms, plankton and even other crabs.
However, unlike humans - where our sense of taste has evolved from a survival tool to one that enhances our dining experience - crabs use taste to identify potential meals but also to evade predators.
These crustaceans might not have tongues, but they can ‘taste’ and ‘smell’ the surrounding environment using chemoreceptors on their antennae, mouth, claws and feet.
If you have ever been icked out by the hair on a crab’s shell, you might be surprised to learn that those hairs function as a crab’s sensory organs, allowing them to smell, taste, and detect vibrations in the water.
Specifically, the furry bits along a crab’s legs and pincers are their taste receptors and help them distinguish between what is edible and what is not.
At the same time, these hairs, known as setae, allow crabs to pick up on changes in the water around them, including chemicals released by their predators.
This is an especially important tool in their survival kit as sea creatures cannot always rely on sight in the dark seabed environment.
A timely getaway means the crab gets to live another day!
Sources:
1. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-do-crabs-find-food-2291888
3. https://fathomseafood.com/blogs/news/what-do-crabs-eat
