Fascinating Video Showing a Crab Molting Is a True Sight to Behold
We all know that hermit crabs will leave their shells to find bigger ones as they grow, but did you know that other types of crabs do something similar? @Unilad shared a fascinating video on Monday, August 7th of a crab molting. It's very cool to watch!
While the video is pretty short, the molting process for crabs can take hours or even days. We see the crab 'exiting' his exoskeleton that he's grown out of. This process leaves him vulnerable to predators because its hard shell is no longer protecting his limbs.
Pretty interesting to see, right? Unilad explains in the caption, "Crabs (and other crustaceans) cannot grow in a linear fashion like most animals. Because they have a hard outer shell (the exoskeleton) that does not grow, they must shed their shells, a process called molting." My question is, what happens next? How long does it take the crab to grow another exoskeleton? According to a crabstreetjournal article, the process is usually completed within a few weeks. It's also worth noting that hermit crabs go through the molting process too.
There were some comments worth mentioning. @jenniebolyantu shared, "It gets better...Following the molt, the crab will eat the exoskeleton it has just shed. Ingesting this calcium rich shell allows the animal to stock up on nutrients needed to synthesize the next shell. Yummy". @john_the_jeweler made me laugh when he admitted, "That’s like me trying to take my pants off end of day", and @teera.us added, "I knew crabs molted but watching this was a lot before coffee was a lot!"
Most other commenters were interested in learning more about the process and had lots of questions about it. Looks like Unilad might need to do a follow up video with more information!
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