Atergatis Integerrimus - A highly toxic crab that resembles Pancake
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  • 184 points Whatamidoinglatley

    Pancake crab refers to certain species, primarily from the genus Atergatis (like A. roseus or A. floridus), known for their flat, round shells resembling pancakes, found in Indo-Pacific reefs, but they are highly toxic to humans due to bacteria and should never be eaten, despite their appearance.

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    63 points Channa_Argus1121

    Well said. Eating Xanthidae in general should be avoided, as many species harbor bacteria of the genus Vibrio, which produce substances analogous to tetrodotoxin or saxitoxin.

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    12 points spilltheteasis_

    Ah and the bacteria could be cooked dead, but the toxins can't, right?

    That's some cool stuff!

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    10 points Channa_Argus1121

    Precisely. Pufferfish organs(and flesh, in tropical species) are also toxic because of heat-resistant toxins produced by gut bacteria.

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    2 points sometimelater0212

    I ate tempura pufferfish 4 days ago. Was delicious!

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    2 points Channa_Argus1121

    Can agree. It might sound obvious, but they somehow taste like chicken.

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    13 points Jeramy_Jones

    Mmmm not even with butter and maple syrup?

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    10 points Major-Assumption539

    Not that I’m planning to defy your advice lol but wouldn’t cooking kill off the dangerous bacteria?

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    60 points JustinJSrisuk

    The toxins in these crabs are related to the ones found in toxic pufferfish and is NOT deactivated by cooking. In fact, there is no known antidote.

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    0 points [deleted]

    [deleted]

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    26 points anxiousthespian

    It is. They contain bacteria that produce the toxins. Even if the bacteria themselves die, the toxic byproduct they've created cannot be destroyed by cooking.

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    -5 points RebulahConundrum

    Ok, I hear you, but what if I use the highest setting on my air fryer.. then what say you?

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    2 points TheRealPitabred

    You can completely burn it and then the ashes might be safe, but I still wouldn't risk it.

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    4 points Both_Evidence_1026

    When people talk about killing bacteria with cooking they mean a small amount of bacteria that found it's way onto your food that hasn't had time to colonize. If something has bacteria living inside it you will find a huge amount of highly toxic waste material which cooking won't help.

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  • 105 points alpinetime

    Crab cakes!

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  • 36 points Ellium215

    That's just unfair

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  • 31 points SkeletalJazzWizard

    A mix of bio-accumulated neurotoxins of some sort, apparently. So it might not be impossible to breed them in a controlled environment to create edible pancake crabs, like the toxin free aquacultured pufferfish. True crabcakes, if you would.

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    3 points archwin

    Let it be so

    I would like edible crab pancakes

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  • 65 points Houndfell

    Forbidden flapjacks!

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  • 32 points LukeyLeukocyte

    Please. These are clearly plushie crabs.

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    13 points disco_naankhatai

    Check out the baby ones - https://www.instagram.com/p/DSH5oNQD308/ - It's how I found out about them.

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    2 points arist0geiton

    Now that is a Little Guy

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  • 28 points spilltheteasis_

    r/forbiddensnacks

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  • 30 points spilltheteasis_

    What do you mean it's toxic?! You want to tell me that I can't even eat the pancake crab?!?!?

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    16 points disco_naankhatai

    You can, just once though...

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  • 33 points lyfeofsand

    If not food, why food shape?

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  • 18 points aoi_ito

    It's shape is so diffrent, for a second I had to check and determine whether it's a "True crab" or not, it is . To be clear what I mean is that, around 260 million years ago, decapods (a group of crustaceans) evolved into two infraorders, the Brachyurans( the true crabs) and Anomurans (the wannabe crabs I,e the false crabs, or crab like things). But later it came to know that Brachyuran with the crab like body are so successful and more capable to survive in the changing world so after that not only Anomurans but many other groups of marine life started convergently evolve themselves into the more crab like body, this shape is even very useful in the current age. So that's why lots of crustaceans which we call them as crab are not actually crabs. For example the king crab, the hermit crab, the coconut crab,the porcelain crab, the mole crab etc are not real crabs, even tho we call the crabs, they belong in the anomuran infraorder( crab like crustacean). And for true crabs the dungeness crab,halloween crab,ghost crab etc are real crabs which belong from the Brachyurans infraorder .

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  • 5 points JustinJSrisuk

    Fascinating, apparently they accumulate highly toxic compounds saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin (the same substance found in deadly poisonous puffer fish) in their flesh due to a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that produces the toxins.

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  • 7 points IscahRambles

    So the adults look more long-cooked than the babies?

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  • 4 points cool_weed_dad

    But they look so delicious

    How poisonous are we talking?

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    2 points Kurai_Tora

    Pufferfish poisonous tier, the toxin can't be cooked out.

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  • 4 points aggressivelyautistic

    If not pancake, why pancake shape?

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  • 3 points Mordecais_Moms_Ashes

    Absolutely delightful

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  • 2 points Kgel21

    The one on the right resembles the swedish pastry 'semla'.

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  • 2 points Capable-Broccoli7212

    no one has said “the real crabcake” yet. i am astonished

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  • 2 points BlooLagoon9

    Krabby Patties?

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  • 2 points Rensoes

    I first thought it was handbag in the shap of a crab with matching wallet😅🦀

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  • 2 points nbbae

    I thought these were purses. Large and small sizes.

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  • 1 points LavenderCreature

    Is it really worth it? To harvest pancakes frome their natural habitats?

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  • 1 points F1eshWound

    They even placed him next to a Pikelet crab for comparison. How cute.

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  • 1 points cosmicdancer84

    It's super cute though.

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  • 1 points HeatherMason0

    Well those two facts are very unfortunate when taken together.

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  • 1 points earwig_art

    i can't believe this. no crabohydrates for us

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  • -1 points Auerbach1991

    Don’t F with me AI. I’ll eat you goddarn it!!

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    1 points GhostofCoprolite

    not AI. this is a real species.

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    -1 points Auerbach1991

    No I know, I’m just joking it better not be AI just messing around lol

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  • -9 points TheOakblueAbstract

    🎶 This life is amazing when you greet it with open arms Whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart No matter the place, we can light up the world Here's how to start Greet the world with open arms Greet the world with open arms 🎶

    Edit: Not sure if people hate Epic the Musical, or are mad that he(Polites) like this crab is a pancake.

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  • -15 points fireflowerMario

    Ehh.. i feel fake vibes

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    14 points Mordecais_Moms_Ashes

    I mean.... You could look it up.....

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    4 points Decapod73

    It's so easy to confirm with a search. It's widely documented.

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