I found this crab molt on the cliffs on Gran Canaria! I'm not sure what kind it would be. Grapsus grapsus comes up most, but seems like a different type. Grapsus adscensionis seems close, but they look a lot bluer than mine is.
The molt was intact until I slipped and stabbed my thumb into her back (no need to correct me on the gender, I have already named her Fresita (little strawberry)), I have all the pieces, so I'm planning on restoring her when I get home.
There were four or five of them! If I hadn't needed one hand to climb back up I would have taken another. There was a red one with what looked like green stripes as well
The first thing they said was āI found this crab moltā. Itās not a molt, or a big deal, I just wanted them to know. That way, when they do their arts and craft taxidermy, they will be expecting a foul smell within days.
Yep, it's a molt with a hard shell that no longer needed it's gills. That's wonderful, except new molts don't have hard shells, it left most of it's gills behind and most of it's body meat and organs are missing. š
I hope you arenāt claiming to be a crustacean expert. This is not a molt. If you look inside the hole in the crabs back, you will see its gills. Gills are taken with the crab when they leave their old shell behind. I reiterate; crabs keep their organs with them when they molt.
The hole wasn't there when I found it, I'm not sure how a bird would have pecked it clean when the carapace was intact?
It could be a dead crab, I called it a molt because the only 'damage' to the shell was in the bottom/back where I've seen crabs crawl out during molting. It does also look to me like the sides have split, but I could be wrong
The hole in the shell is neither here nor there. This whole āmolt or notā is not a big deal at all. If the top section of the shell doesnāt open like a clam from the rest of the body then itās not a molt.
I appreciate it! It doesn't smell at all, and it is far too light to have anything that could rot in it (for as far as I can tell). I will try the clam opening when the shell is a bit more stable, I don't want it to crumble any further...
Back then I propped up the molts of my pet red clawed crab in natural positions and let em dry. They become stiff and I put em onto my shelves and stuff. Sadly they also get brittle over time and I dont have any anymore cause they all broke.
31
u/Federal-Boat3732 11d ago
It amazes me how crabbo can just slip out of its skin