Gonopores

[Lokalai]

I know that some crabs seem to change gender, and one of my crabs has possibly done that. I had sexed Peep before it went down for a molt a month or so back and was lacking them. I decided to check again today while Peep was out and about and the little crab now has them.

Before Peep went under for the molt, she was a small on the sizing chart I downloaded from this site. After coming up, she barely qualifies as a medium. Getting to the point here, do females lack gonopores until they hit sexual maturity and size or something along those lines? Or do females generally just have them from the start?

[wodesorel]

I've had crabs that could fit on a dime (shell and all) that had gonopores. What I don't know is if they all hit sexual maturity at the same time.

[Lokalai]

Okay, that gives me a probable answer there . I'll keep checking little Peep to see what happens in the future with her. But I am very sure there were no pores before the molt as I had Peep come out far enough to check thrice over just in case I just didn't see them the first look. I feel odd calling Peep a she now.

[Crabinski]

Peep's change from he to she may not be permanent. Felix, a medium-sized PP, has been with me almost 8 years now and had been male from Day One but, about two years ago, he emerged from a molt sporting gonopores! After his subsequent molt about 6 months later, no more gonopores and Felix was once again, and remains, male. Other crabbers have experienced the same male-female-male switch. Go figure !

[wodesorel]

It's hard because we can't easily observe for pleopods, which would really say for sure which gender they are. I doubt those structures are changing along with the gonopores.

[Lokalai]

@Crabinski, I read about that and think it's pretty fascinating that they do that. I plan on sexing Peep after each molt to keep an eye on it and see what happens.
@Wodesorel, I have to agree with that thought. That would mean more change than just the little pores which I would think would just stress them out more during molts.
Are there any known females that didn't have the visible gonopores at some point or any point with the pleopods or vice versa? I know that would take a lot to find out both, but on the off chance that anyone has experienced that, Peep just got me curious about this stuff.

[Candie]

I know the gonopores are under the crab but how do you guys look at them, if I were to try to look candie would probably freak with me closely observing her undersides that are further in the shell, do u guys turn them over or hold them high to look under? I really want to know if she is a she but she's sensitive to me moving around too much while handling her

[Lokalai]

Mine don't mind when I hold them over my palm so that only their toe tips can reach. Then I keep my hand that far away from them as they slowly come out until I can see while holding them so their underside is in view. Once I spot either the pores or the lack of, I gently lower them all the way onto my hand and they walk around like nothing ever happened. I hope I made that make sense enough for you. Two of mine are very shy and sometimes it doesn't work, but most of the time, they don't seem to care when I take a look that way.

[Crabinski]

I know the gonopores are under the crab but how do you guys look at them, if I were to try to look candie would probably freak with me closely observing her undersides that are further in the shell, do u guys turn them over or hold them high to look under? I really want to know if she is a she but she's sensitive to me moving around too much while handling her

Most of us wait until they're climbing and stretching upward so that the base of the legs is visible. One of my guys, Mr Pinch, would start a nice climbing stretch but as soon as I'd lean in for a look, he'd pull himself together as though to say "What are you, some kind of pervert peeking at my nether regions?" It took me 14 months before I was finally able to determine that he was, indeed, male.

[wodesorel]

I used to rest my arm on the rim of the tank and have them reach for moss (harder to grab, but seems close at hand so they would stretch) while looking through the glass. They would be a little less jumpy that way.

[Candie]

Thanks for the tips, she can be shy so it would have to be really late at night for me to have my hand in there and her ok with it, she just a hears me creaking the lid and she hides..funny crab

[Crabby Witch]

Glass coffee tables help also. Lay them on it and watch from underneath. Ive also just put them in a clean glass aquarium and hold it over my head and watch, a 5gallon one or one of those clear travel containers. they eventualy come out and move.