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This is a difficult process that takes many hours, and if a crab gets stuck, it will die. After freeing itself from the old shell (now called an exuvia), the crab is extremely soft and hides until its new shell has hardened. While the new shell is still soft, the crab can expand it to make room for future growth. [17]: 78–79
Prepared Florida stone crab claws. The Florida stone crab is usually fished near jetties, oyster reefs or other rocky areas, just as for blue crabs. The bodies of these crabs are relatively small and so are rarely eaten, but the claws (chelae), which are large and strong enough to break an oyster's shell, are considered a delicacy.
Development of freshwater crabs is characteristically direct, where the eggs hatch as juveniles, with the larval stages passing within the egg. [1] The broods comprise only a few hundred eggs (compared to hundreds of thousands for marine crabs), each of which is quite large, at a diameter around 1 mm (0.04 in). [4]
The claws can be served steamed and served chilled over ice for an appetizer or the meat used for crab cakes, among many other preparations. [14] Seafood based broths and Asian style soups can be made from the shells and the texture is as fine as snow crab but as firm as Florida stone crab when prepared properly. [15]
A number of lineages of crabs have evolved to live predominantly on land. Examples of terrestrial crabs are found in the families Gecarcinidae and Gecarcinucidae, as well as in selected genera from other families, such as Sesarma, [1] although the term "land crab" is often used to mean solely the family Gecarcinidae. [2]
They can carry 7,957 to 9,456 eggs, holding them for up to 5 weeks. [15] Oyster crab females begin producing one batch of eggs the first year and after the second or third year, they can increase to two batches. [15] Once the eggs have developed into free-swimming zoeae, they will leave the mother's oyster in search of their own. [16]
With fewer horseshoe crab eggs on beaches, bird species like the endangered red knot populations have declined by 84% since the 1980s.
Mangrove crabs are predated on by wading birds, fish, sharks, [8] monkeys, hawks, and raccoons. [7] The larvae of mangrove crabs is a major source of food for juvenile fish in waterways near the crabs. [24] Adult mangrove crabs are food for the crab plover among other protected species. [17] To protect themselves the crabs can climb trees. [25]