Heikegani Crab is popular crab species these days that is found specifically in Japan. These crabs have attained popularity because of their human-like faces with a Samurai crab video viral on Twitter
Heikegani Crab is a topic that is garnering a lot of limelight presently as these are found in abundance but nobody wants to eat them. So we have explained everything related to Heikegani below.
Samurai Crab Video Goes Viral On Reddit: What Is The Heikegani Crab In Japan, Evolution, Faces And Meaning
Heikegani Crab Story
In the year 1185, on a tiny bay named the Dan-no-ura, two great fleets faced one another. On one side was the Heike clan, which is an imperial ruler of Japan. Whereas on the other side was the Minamoto clan. These two upstarted fighting to control the throne.
At stake was control of all of Japan. After a whole day of fighting, the Heike were routed, and their 6-year-old emperor drowned to keep him out of the Minamoto’s hands. Minamoto Yoritomo went on to become one of the first Shogun, or military rulers, of Japan.
Heikegani Crabs Resemble Samurai Clan
A very strange story was depicted in the wake of the war. The Locals told a legend about crabs in the area with a strange pattern on their shells of body. These crabs were believed to resemble samurai masks. The Legend held that the crabs were the reincarnations of the samurai slain at the Battle of the Dan-no-Ura.
The Heikegani Crab does bear an uncanny resemblance to the mask of samurai. Carl Sagan speculated this in his show Cosmos that the resemblance was due to artificial selection. Primarily, the people would throwback crabs that resembled samurai masks, and eat the ones that didn’t. So that put selection pressure on the population to grow shells that are similar to masks.
Moreover, it sounds very good and it does fit the mold for how the pressures tend to work, as there’s a problem that nobody actually eats Heikegani. They are too small for it. Plus, the crabs with this kind of shell pattern are not yet confined to only that small bay. In fact, they can be found all over the Bay of Japan city and there are several other species of crabs with various patterns.
The folds and creases are the points where muscles attach to the carapace. All the Humans just happen to think they look like faces–or masks–because of a phenomenon called pareidolia. The samurai faces are seen in several random patterns.