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蠘

cjk unified ideograph-8818

蠘

蠘 is a Chinese character for a swimming crab, especially in coastal seafood usage. Taiwanese Hokkien uses 蠘仔 for the animal, and older descriptions connect its name to sharp, scissor-like claws.

Text symbol
Also called
蠘仔 · 蠘蟹
Search it as
蠘 meaning · 梭子蟹 · Chinese crab character · Cangjie LIJIG · Mandarin Pinyin jié
Shows up in
Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws

What 蠘 means

蠘 names a swimming crab in coastal seafood usage.

The earliest direct written record is in the 1223 嘉定赤城志, a local gazetteer. It links the name to the crab’s sharp pincers, which cut like scissors. The 1596 閩中海錯疏, a regional account of sea life, repeats the claw explanation and describes pointed shell sides and serrated claws.

The meaning stays narrow: Chinese references gloss 蠘 as 梭子蟹. In Taiwanese Hokkien, 蠘仔 names that animal.

What does 蠘 mean in Taiwanese Hokkien?

In Taiwanese Hokkien, 蠘仔 names the swimming crab.

紅膏赤蠘 describes a healthy, rosy complexion. The Minnan proverb 掠龜走鱉，掠蟳走蠘 warns that chasing one catch can leave you with another.

Read a standalone 蠘 in a message as a written crab name or regional seafood reference; the surrounding words settle the precise sense.

Regional and literary; 梭子蟹 is the clearer general term.

For a broad audience, use 梭子蟹 too.

Drift: A Fuzhou account from 2022 describes seafood sellers using 正蠘 on labels for the local swimming-crab designation.

What it means when someone sends it to you

3 readings
蠘仔 in Taiwanese Hokkien
A regional name for the swimming crab in dialect writing or speech.
紅膏赤蠘 in a dialect expression
A healthy, rosy complexion.
A standalone 蠘 in a message
A written crab name or regional seafood reference; surrounding words set the precise sense.

Don't confuse it with

2
蠞
CJK Unified Ideograph-881E
蠘 vs 蠞: both are crab terms, but they are separate characters. 蠘 has 截 on the right; 蠞 has 節 above 虫.
蟹
CJK Unified Ideograph-87F9
蟹 is the broad character for crab; 蠘 is the narrower name for a swimming crab.

Combination ideas

3
Taiwanese Hokkien term for swimming crab.
A Minnan expression for a healthy, rosy complexion.
A proverb warning that chasing one catch can leave you with another.

Questions people ask

1

Why does 蠘 show as a box on some devices?

Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.

How to type 蠘

Windows (Word)
Alt+XType 8818, then Alt+X to get 蠘.
Windows
Win+Rrun charmap for the full table, or use the emoji picker's Ω symbols tab (Win + .).
macOS
Control+Command+SpaceOpen the character viewer and search “cjk unified ideograph-8818”.
Linux
Ctrl+Shift+UType 8818, then Enter or Space.
HTML
蠘
CSS
\8818
How do I type 蠘?
In a Cangjie Chinese input method, enter LIJIG and select 蠘.
Mandarin Pinyin input
In a Mandarin Pinyin input method, type jié and select 蠘 from the candidates.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
蠘
HTML hex
蠘
CSS content
content: "\8818";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%E8%A0%98
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes

A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.

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2

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