Claw-Plach

Claw-Plach is a tradition instituted by the Decapodians. The relatively new part of this tradition (18 years old) is that once the challenge has been initiated, it must be finished. It is a fight to the death in a public arena to settle matters of honor, and also whether abbreviations count in Scrabble (Zoidberg maintains that they don't), or, more usually, for money. Weapons are allowed, but some Decapodians prefer to use their own claws, so that they can have the pleasure of cutting their enemies themselves. The combatant who guesses the animal the Decapodian Emperor is thinking of has first choice of weapons. Dr. Zoidberg invoked claw-plach to challenge Fry for the hand of Edna.

Claw-plach is a parody of ‘Kal-if-fee’, a similar Vulcan tradition from Star Trek, and the fight scene in "Why Must I be a Crustacean in Love" is a parody of Kirk and Spock fighting in the "Amok Time" episode. Before the claw-plach, the famous musical underscore composed by Gerald Fried for the "Amok Time" fight scene is briefly heard as the Decapodian "national anthem." The name, however, is derived from the traditional Klingon phrase "Qapla'!" Literally translated, "Qapla'!" means "success".