Crab, say, with hard top, or soft (9)
I believe the answer is:
arthropod
'crab say' is the definition.
(crab is a kind of arthropod)
'hard top or soft' is the wordplay.
'hard top or' can be anagrammed to 'ARTHROPOD'.
But, I'm unsure how this is indicated.
'with' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for arthropod that I've seen before include "Such as a crustacean or spider" , "Creature such as insect or crustacean" , "Invertebrate" , "One has external skeleton" , "worker, perhaps" .)