Crab Molt

When we opened the Portsmouth touch tank the other day we noticed one of our Rock Crabs had molted. Crabs molt once they have out grown their current shells and need a bigger one. After this molting process happens a crabs shell is soft for about three days leaving it vulnerable to predators. Our Roch Crab apparently did not hide itself well enough because when we saw her on Wednesday her still soft body was missing six legs! Below is a picture of the molted crab, the lighter red shell is the molt and the dark color shell is the Crab, still leaving, only without six legs. Crabs, like Sea Stars, can regrow legs but it will not be back to its full length until after three molts.