Hairy crab king and queen rule supreme as prime eating season nears

The new king and queen of hairy crabs were crowned in Shanghai on Tuesday with the royalty weighing in at 580.5 grams and 476 grams, respectively.

Both come from an aquafarm in Gucheng Lake in Gaochun District of Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province. They defeated more than 3,000 crabs from 130 aquafarms across China in a competition that took place at the Central Hotel in Shanghai.

They are lighter than last year's winners, which were 642 grams and 521 grams.

Wang Chenhui, a professor from Shanghai Ocean University, said the extreme heat in July and August and warm weather in September and October led to their smaller sizes as it delayed the arrival of the best temperature for crabs mature.

"The high temperatures elongated their molting cycle and many crabs even failed to finish this process, so they are smaller than last year," he said.

"The heat also caused more crab deaths and thus reduced the supply, resulting in a 20 to 30 percent price increase."

Hairy crab is a popular delicacy in China and the best season is late autumn and early winter.