Abstract: An apparatus for extracting tailmeat and other edible materials from crustaceans. The apparatus of the present invention includes a pair of clamps movably mounted to a frame which grasp the head and tail portions of the crustacean and then momentarily impact the head portion towards the tail portion, thus rupturing an internal membrane that bonds the tailmeat to the shell of the crustacean thereby greatly easing the extraction of the tailmeat from the shell. After impact, the clamps are separated from each other so as to separate the head portion of the crustacean from the tail portion. The tail clamp allows the tail portion to flex slightly, which avoids a shearing effect and which retains more edible material in the separated tail portion, where it is subsequently extracted.