Portly Spider Crab

Fished this guy out of the pier near Jones Beach in Long Island. I think it's the largest crab I ever caught, with legs easily over a foot long. I believe the species is known as Libinia emarginata, and they feed primarily on kelp or other benthic plant life on the muddy bottoms that they live in. They are also very sluggish and non-aggressive, despite their beaked mouths, and may be content enough to stand in place for long periods of time. This one didn't move at all while I snapped a photo of it, I was even able to pick it up and it didn't care

Like other "Decorator" crabs, I think this one likes to have mussels and other invertibrates adorn itself as a form of camoflage.