MOLTING HS crab????

[kimkissyfish]

Hi,
Do horseshoe crabs molt just like , shrimp where they leave thier WHOLE body shells so it looks like they died?
I found what I thought was my HS crab dead.. shell in the corner of tank.. BUT then I saw my HS crab yesterday!! So, I was thinking, did he molt or have a baby??? Because the shell or body seemed smaller than the HS crab I saw yesterday.. Thats the ONLY explanation I came up with??
Confused here???
Thanking you kindly, Kim

 

[sterling]

I'd like to know this answer also, if it applies to all crabs (not hermits). Do they molt and leave little "bodies" laying around, because over the months I keep thinking somethings killing my little crabs, but now I wonder.

 

[sterling]

Kim, I guess we'll never know the answer

 

[njbluefish]

Hey.......this is what I can find on the web. I do not know if this holds true for the kind of crabs you buy from the LFS.....but I would tend to think it would. Hope this helps.....
Horseshoe crabs have a hard shell, or exoskeleton made of chitin. To grow, the crab must shed it exoskeleton by molting. The molting process involves the opening of a seam at the forward base of the prosoma. Then the crab then slowly crawls out of its old outer shell. As the new crab emerges from the shell it begins to take on water and swell to its new size. Molting can be difficult and dangerous procedure. If a crab takes on water to fast and swells up to large before emerging from the old molt, it may become entrapped in the old exoskeleton and die. New exoskeletons are soft for a short period of time. During this time the horseshoe crab is more vulnerable to predation.
Growth of horseshoe crabs is a stair step process. In each step of its growth, the crab will remain a certain size for a long period of time. Then the crab will shed its exoskeleton, and suddenly the crab has become much larger in a very short time. Young crabs shed their shells in a few minutes a here as adults may require several hours to complete the process. Since horseshoe crabs do not retain any hard structure throughout its lifetime, it is very difficult to determine the age of an individual. The estimate life span for the American horseshoe crabs is any where between 16 and 40 years.

 

[aarone]

I have had the same problem with a zebra legs hermit. i thought he was dead one day and shellless, but then i saw him moving about freely.

 

[wrassecal]

Yep they molt. I don't have a horseshoe but a friend does. I'm glad to see this thread cause my husband has called me at least 3 times thinking either the sally lightfoot or a cleaner shrimp or something has died only to find it's a molt. He'll be glad he's not the only one.

 

[kimkissyfish]

WOW.. very interesting! Its amazing how big he got in ONE molt! I was just posting about my HS crab and how he was slow growing maybe 4 weeks ago. I am going to attach a PIC of his shell. Its amazing how much it looks just like a DEAD HS crab and NOT a shell... WOW it even has all the small legs and stuff underneath..
Kim

 

[aftrhrs]

My cleaner shrimp did this about two weeks ago for the first time and I totally freaked out. It looked exactly like him except it was see-through. I have been wondering what this was.

 

[kimkissyfish]

Here is underneath.. I apologize if tis gets posted too many times.. I was having a BIGTIME with AOL and I think It may HAVE posted and I pushed submit a few times...
Kim

 

[kimkissyfish]

His outside...
Kim

 

[njbluefish]

yeah.......I had my first Sally Lightfoot for about a week and it molted. I had no idea about molting until this happened. To make you laugh........I went to the lfs with the molt and wanted to know what happened to my crab I thought it died and wanted to know why........so I was laughed at by the guy behind the counter......I learned my lesson the hard way. I went home to research this online and in my books. I now have a better understanding of what molts and what does not. Just goes to show you never stop learning.....you just become better at your hobbie.

 

[wrassecal]

Here's a sally lightfoot molt. I don't know how they do it and it stays a perfect replica. You'd think they tear it up some getting out of it.

 

[kimkissyfish]

BlueFish..... Thats sooo funny!!
Ans Wrasscal.. awesome PIC.. Funny, I would hae thought That WAS your CRAB... WOW
I guess we just keep learning... I am SO glad my HS is NOT dead.. He is totally COOOOL!
Thanking you kindly, Kim

 

[irenicus]

Cool....

 

[kimkissyfish]

The mysteries od the DEEP!! LOLOL
Goes to show you that ALL the $$ we put into our tanks is priceless.. not only are WE learning BUT if you have KIDS... WHAT AN EDUCATION....
My 9 yr old son did his report on my corals.. (they were studing them in school) He got an A.. he could give such details and also how you have to care for them and feed them... none of the KIDS in his class has a SW tank.... He even took PICS of them to do an oral report..(sho and tell). He was so proud of himself! He is gonna take the HS crab shell to school to show the teacher too..

 

[wrassecal]

Tha't s cool. Here's one of my favorite pics. She must have sat there for an hour.

 

[salty jeff]

cool pic Wrassecal...

 

[kimkissyfish]

Hi,
Wrassecal... Awesome PIC.. I can see why its one of your favorites.. Very cute.. specially with the magnifying glass..
Kim
Thanks for sharing

 

[wrassecal]

Sometimes I think the best part is the kids Her sister in 2nd grade always checks out these little books on corals or fish or anenomes and gives her oral book reports showing the pics of which ones we have. Maybe she's going to be a researcher. The 5 year old in the pic was looking for bristle worms. She thinks they are cute! I bet your son's classmates are going to think that horseshoe crab molt is awesome.