Giant mud crab discovered in Phuket

[webfact]

Giant mud crab discovered in Phuket

PHUKET, 14 October 2014 (NNT) - Locals in the famous island of Phuket have discovered a giant mud crab weighing nearly 3 kilograms.

Kasit Padungkan, a 29 year-old local in Phuket, held the crab in front of the media’s camera before sending it to the provincial office of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources where it would be kept for display and for researchers to study.

Investigations confirm that it was a male crab weighing 2.8 kilograms and measured at least 2 feet from its left to right claw. The crab’s scientific name is Scylla serrata and is commonly known among the locals as “Poo Thonglang.”

According to Mr. Kasit, he had bought the crab from an associate of his at a price of 700 baht. However, he decided to offer the crab to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources instead since it was a rather rare catch.

The last time a crab like this had been appeared in Phuket was back during 30-40 years ago. The crab population has reduced significantly due to the destruction of mangrove forests and the spread of shrimp farming within the area.

Realizing this problem, the locals along with the subdistrict administration organization (SAO) and other government agencies have worked together to replant several mangroves and now the crab population is starting to recover considerably.

-- NNT 2014-10-14

[Costas2008]

"According to Mr. Kasit, he had bought the crab from an associate of his at a price of 700 baht."

Good he offered the crab to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.

It would have costed him double, to buy a big enough casserole to boil this crab.

And some education here......the name of the crab "Scylla" means female dog in Greek.

[ExPratt]

In this case I'd have said a picture could have painted a 1000 words or maybe 2000

[Kerryd]

"According to Mr. Kasit, he had bought the crab from an associate of his at a price of 700 baht."

Good he offered the crab to the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources.

It would have costed him double, to buy a big enough casserole to boil this crab.

And some education here......the name of the crab "Scylla" means female dog in Greek.

And a female dog is also called a "bitch", so that would make this a bitchy crab ?

In which case this should be nicknamed the "wife crab" or "teerak crab" maybe ?

[dutchinlondon]

I bet it tasted great in the somtam

[marsstar14]

In this case I'd have said a picture could have painted a 1000 words or maybe 2000

How about this? This was the actual crab that was found by the local guy Kasit (the one on the left) in Phuket.

Edited October 14, 2014 by marsstar14

[AyG]

And some education here......the name of the crab "Scylla" means female dog in Greek.

Except it doesn't. A Greek bitch is skýla - notice the single lambda.

Scylla was a mythological monster which lived on one side of straights dangerous to sailors, with Charybdis (another monster) on the opposite side of the water.

The crab is so named after its monstrous size.

[yellowboat]

Hope they let it go after studying it. If it is rare, it should be put back.

[oneday]

Will these idiot reporters ever stop making headlines that beg for pictures and then not have a picture.

Easy enough to find on the internet, but come on guys...wise up.

[OmarZaidMD]

I'm hungry

[bob strutt]

we throw that size back in aus to small,great eating though, they are ferosis things,

[Jonmarleesco]

Weighed metrically, measured imperially; one way to confuse the Thais - and no doubt many expats - who don't recognise imperial measurements.

[Halion]

A life long diet of raw sewage will do wonders for you growth.

[marsstar14]

Will these idiot reporters ever stop making headlines that beg for pictures and then not have a picture.

Easy enough to find on the internet, but come on guys...wise up.

Can't help but laugh when I see comments from idiots like yourself. Obviously, you've never worked in an actual news company before, have you? These articles are actually translated by somebody from Thai to English and it gets edited by someone else before it gets posted online. The translator is not responsible for finding the pictures. He/she does not have the time to do so when there are four or five articles to write in a couple of hours.

[ClutchClark]

Weighed metrically, measured imperially; one way to confuse the Thais - and no doubt many expats - who don't recognise imperial measurements.

Thats the beauty of human intelligence. It can work between different units of measure and as should be quite obvious, different languages. The latter of which the Thais are far less confused prwcticing than farangs.

Cheers

[NomadJoe]

In this case I'd have said a picture could have painted a 1000 words or maybe 2000

How about this? This was the actual crab that was found by the local guy Kasit (the one on the left) in Phuket.

Not the correct picture. The Gazette rant he story two weeks ago with photo, but for some strange reason TV has decided not to run PG stories anymore. A huge mistake imo.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Giant-crab-nips-Krabi-villagers-emotions/36037#ad-image-0

[Longtooth]

And some education here......the name of the crab "Scylla" means female dog in Greek.

Except it doesn't. A Greek bitch is skýla - notice the single lambda.

Scylla was a mythological monster which lived on one side of straights dangerous to sailors, with Charybdis (another monster) on the opposite side of the water.

The crab is so named after its monstrous size.

Fond memories of fresh cooked Dungeness Crab (Cancer Magister) with fresh San Francisco sour dough French bread on Fisherman's Wharf. How do some of you guys know so much? Seriously.

[marsstar14]

In this case I'd have said a picture could have painted a 1000 words or maybe 2000

How about this? This was the actual crab that was found by the local guy Kasit (the one on the left) in Phuket.

Not the correct picture. The Gazette rant he story two weeks ago with photo, but for some strange reason TV has decided not to run PG stories anymore. A huge mistake imo.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Giant-crab-nips-Krabi-villagers-emotions/36037#ad-image-0

Nomad Joe, the picture that you have is actually pulled from another similar story to the one in the OP except that the crab was found in Krabi province and not Phuket. Please note that the date of the Phuket Gazette article is September 29, 2014 and the weight of the crab is listed as 2.3 kg, not 2.8 kg like the OP. Therefore, my picture is actually correct.

[AyG]

Call that a giant crab? We've got far larger in England.

News story at http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/404921/Giant-50ft-crab-spotted-in-British-harbour

[Greer]

I have to agree that at 2.3kg or even 2.8kg, it's not as big as some available in Australia - we regularly used to get large mud-crabs in Brisbane that were easily that big. I guess it's large by local standards though...

[NamKangMan]

Call that a giant crab? We've got far larger in England.

News story at http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/404921/Giant-50ft-crab-spotted-in-British-harbour

And, apparently, there is a monster living in Loch Ness.

[NamKangMan]

Why don't they use it for breeding purposes, and gain more crab meat yield per crab?