Cheeky crab stands its ground against hungry alligator - and gives him a pinch on the nose

A plucky crab stands up to a giant alligator in this David and Goliath face-off - and scuttled its way to victory.

The shocked shellfish was caught unawares by the devious alligator as it crept up behind it.

But as soon as the plucky crustacean heard the alligator it turned around and showed its pincers, before reaching out and giving the giant predator a firm pinch on the nose.

The crab then quickly scuttled out of the way, before the angry alligator had time to seek revenge, leaving one tiny pincer raised above the mud as a sign of victory before disappearing completely.

The extraordinary face-off was caught on camera by Phil Lanoue, who lives near Murrells Inlet in South Carolina's Huntington Beach State Park, where the action happened.

The 60-year-old said: 'The alligator went into stealth mode trying to sneak up behind the crab hoping to catch it by surprise.

'An older, more experienced alligator would have been much less subtle in the stalking procedure and likely would have gone for a quick grab and crunch but that was not this young gator's style.

'The youngster took too much time being sneaky and the crab must have heard him coming up from behind because it quickly whipped himself around and raised his claws defiantly.

'As the gator inched forward the crab reached out with his right claw and gave the gator a good hard pinch on the end of his nose.

'The startled alligator jerked his head to the side to be free of the crab's claw while the crab scurried to his right and partially submerged himself in the mud of a shallow pool while keeping both claws raised in a threatening manner.

'The defeated alligator was severely annoyed and slowly slunk off back into the water while the crab lived to tell the tale.'