common crabs
The sea is full of many different species of crabs. I'll be covering three species of crabs. The species I'll be covering are blue crabs, hermit crabs, and fiddler crabs. The topics of growth, reproduction, and characteristics will also be covered. Blue crabs come from the family Portunidae a group of animals having jointed legs, segmented body, and a hard outer shell. (Capossela, 1990) It is a crustacean as are lobsters and shrimps. This crab stays in water although it could survive shortly out of it. The growth of blue crabs is slowed in areas of high salinity. In the waters of average salinity, male crabs may grow to seven-nine inches. Females seldom make it past six. They can live an average of 2-2 1/2 years, although some make it to four years of age. The crab has to shed his hard shell in order to grow. It sometimes has to do this 25-30 times in his life, for about two days each. At this time the crab is called a "softshell." (Capossela, 1990) Small crabs shed every 3-5 days. The blue crab occurs along the Atlantic Coast from Cape Cod south to Florida and around the Golf of Mexico to the Mississippi, and nex
That trait brings about their name. A common hermit crab, found from Maine to Florida, is Pagurus pollicaris. It is the largest of fiddler crabs and many be distingueshed from other by a red patch at the joints of the legs. The carapace of these crabs is square, and the eyestalks are usually very long, each horizontally in an elogated groove along the front of the carapace. At this point the crabs are called "doublers. At this stage they are called zoea larvae, and they look more like shrimp than crabs. They have to seek protection for their soft, defenseless abdomens by inserting them into some hollow object which is usually the shell of a gasteropod mollusk. Then antennae and eyestallks are long, and the first pair of thoracic leg s are muich larger than the others. The crabs don't molt during the winter dormancy. It lives off small algae in its vegetarian diet. It has a pinching claw, which is usually on the right.
Common topics in this essay:
Mexico Mississippi,
Hermit Crabs,
Fiddler Crabs,
Crabs Blue,
October Shortly,
Florida Pagurus,
England Florida,
Common Crabs,
Colliers Encyclopedia,
Wolfe April,
fiddler crabs,
blue crabs,
hermit crabs,
hermit crab,
salt marshes,
found salt marshes,
crabs family,
capossela 1990,
shell crab,
headstrom 1985,
grow sometimes,
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