Zaratan

The saratan (from the Arabic سرطان, saraṭān, meaning "crab"), alternatively spelled zaratan, is a colossal sea creature that features prominently in Arabic folklore and literature.

In the ninth-century text Kitāb al-Hayawān (The Book of Animals), the renowned Arabic polymath Al-Jahiz describes three formidable sea monsters: the tanin (sea-dragon), the saratan (crab), and the bala (whale). Regarding the mysterious saratan, Al-Jahiz wrote:

"As to the sarathan, I have never yet met anybody who could assure me he had seen it with his own eyes. Of course, if we were to believe all that sailors tell [...] for they claim that on occasions they have landed on certain islands having woods and valleys and fissures and have lit a great fire; and when the monster felt the fire on its back, it began to glide away with them and all the plants growing on it, so that only such as managed to flee were saved. This tale outdoes the most fabulous and preposterous of stories."

The creature also appears in other significant works of Arabic literature, including al-Qazwini's The Wonders of Creation and the famous tale of Sinbad the Sailor's first voyage in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.