Crab on the Beach

You are bluffing, said Pliny. I can tell. You don't know whether crabs have noses or not.

Alright, Pliny. I don't. But what if I meant the crab had a nose in the sense that a fine wine has a nose?

Sophistry again, sniffed Pliny. I do not believe that a crab has a nose. But I am willing to put that belief to the test. Let us google it, and settle the question.

Let's, I agreed. You start.

Hmmm, hmmm c...r...a...b........n...o...s...e......enter, mumbled Pliny, typing it in. Oh look at this! They do have noses. Robber Crabs have smelling organs called aesthetascs, mounted on antennae or antennules.

How fascinating, I said, but Robber Crabs live on the land, and steal pots and silverware from tents, or so it says here. What about crabs that live in rock pools ?

Yes, said Pliny, your ordinary crab has these antennules too. They are chemoreceptors that enable it to taste and smell.

Well, that is not the sort of nose I imagined, I said, disappointed. What about the Longnose Spider Crab and the Sharpnose Crab? Surely their noses are not antennules?

Their names do seem to indicate a larger type of nose, agreed Pliny. We shall have to continue our googling.