Abstract: This invention is a high speed crab butchering machine that entails several novel features. Crab are transported through the machine by sandwiching their legs between pairs of opposed, resilient-surface endless belts. The distance between belt pairs is varied to accomodate crab of any body width. This is accomplished by making a lengthwise section of the machine slideable on machine-ways. Linear actuators vary the distance between belt-pairs manually or automatically. A rotating cleaving blade removes the carapace and tail and splits the crab body, in one operation. Furthermore, the blade is only activated when a crab is sensed to be in position. This allows the operator to feed the machine at any time and he does not have to concentrate on engaging an indexing mechanism with the crab as in the prior art. Additionally, the belts and blade are electronically torque limited to ensure safety.