Yeah, I guess you could say that molting is similar. Molting is the only way inverts like shrimp, crabs and lobsters can grow. Immediately after molting, they take water into their tissues and expand slightly, before the chitin of their new exoskeleton hardens. My BCS lost an arm one night to some struggle with a tankmate. A week or so later, I noticed a new arm growing back. She molted, and her arm was back, good as new. Ain't nature amazing?