Crab Life Cycle
Crabs are crustaceans which are also known as decapods. They have a very hard shell known as carapace. Crabs are found everywhere in the world, with its 6800 species spread length and breadth of the globe. They are the most sought after seafood.
Crabs possess a good mating ritual and use their communication method to attract females. Using the pincers they wave or drum, which is suggestive. Their abdomen resembles a tail. The tail is folded up on the flap in the abdomen. Crab’s sex can be discerned easily when you turn it over. Male crabs have triangular flaps, while female crabs have oval shaped flaps in the abdomen. While mating, crabs carry the female, and the mating ritual is prolonged, and they can remain in mating position for three days.
The sperms of the male crab are stored below the abdomen of the female, till they are ready for fertilization. The sperms usually flow on the eggs to fertilize them. Again, the female crab stores these fertilized eggs in a sponge like mass which located between the body and the flap in the abdomen. The female crab uses the small legs called pleopods to properly harden the eggs, which then takes the form of a berry.
Continuous waving of water by the female over the pleopods helps the eggs to be healthy. After mating the female may seek saltwater lagoons. After incubation of eggs for two weeks, the larvae from the eggs hatch, and they are left into the ocean to look after themselves.
In the waters the larvae continues to grow over the next four days, and within this period they attain adult hood. Before becoming an adult, the larvae goes through a number molting phases, and when the adult crab is ready for mating, the Crab lifecycle repeats.
The scientific names of Crab have inner meanings: decapod refers to its 10 legs and Callinectes sapidus calls it a ‘beautiful swimmer’.
The average lifespan of a crab is 3 years.
The teeth of Crabs are located in their stomach.
The crab swims using its paddle.
If crab loses a claw after pinching a person, it can grow a natural call afresh. I
The female crab has a broader abdomen, while the male has narrower abdomen.
In the process of Crab Lifecycle the crab shell is discarded even as new one grows.
Crabs sizes vary from 4 meters to a pea-size
Crabs can eat animals and plants, being omnivorous. Crabs are fond of algae, while scavenger crabs eat dead animals. Coral crabs are fond coral polyps. Ghost crabs and Fiddler crabs are known to eat sand and mud while box and pebble crabs use their feet to crack snails open and eat its flesh. For the sake of living they adopt a number of ways and live their full lifecycle.
