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Tails!?
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:10 pm
by MeganM
So I am watching none of my cabs inspect a shell and he is pretty far out. I swear I see a black little cylindrical slimy tail looking thing coming in and out of the shell. Someone please tell me they do have tails and I'm not crazy...
New to crabbing as of 1/3/15. 2 PPs Hermie and Hermione!
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:17 pm
by singlemomwithcrab
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:43 pm
by MeganM
I struggled through biology lol. But somehow thrived in physics...
Now call me dense but sorry that pic didn't help me to know if they have tails,,,
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:25 pm
by megmaholm
No, they don't have tails. Was it on the crab's left side, behind the last pair of walking legs? It could be a molt sac. They can be a grayish blackish color.
http://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/Hermit-C ... -a/138.htm has a decent pic of a molting sac.
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:26 pm
by ViiT
MeganM wrote:I struggled through biology lol. But somehow thrived in physics...
Now call me dense but sorry that pic didn't help me to know if they have tails,,,
Biology <3
Physics <3
ALL SCIENCE <3
Anyway, here's a hermit crab without the shell. What you're calling a tail is most likely its abdomen, or you're seeing pleopods.
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 10:34 pm
by MeganM
ViiT wrote:
Biology <3
Physics <3
ALL SCIENCE <3
Anyway, here's a hermit crab without the shell. What you're calling a tail is most likely its abdomen, or you're seeing pleopods.
After googling pics I do think that what I saw could have been there pleopods.
New to crabbing as of 1/3/15. 2 PPs Hermie and Hermione!
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 8:44 am
by MeganM
Saw this and thought of this post
New to crabbing as of 1/3/15. 2 PPs Hermie and Hermione!
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:28 am
by hermitcrab24
MeganM wrote:Saw this and thought of this post
New to crabbing as of 1/3/15. 2 PPs Hermie and Hermione!
I love it!
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 12:55 pm
by ViiT
MeganM wrote:
Doesn't apply to me since I love both, but I got a good laugh from it
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:11 pm
by wodesorel
OMGosh YES!!!
But seriously - think of a hermit crab as being a soft butted shrimp or lobster. They're all decapods - which means they have 10 feet total, in five matching pairs. In hermits, the claws are the first set, and then the walking legs make up two more pairs, and then they have another two pairs behind those that are very tiny and usually hidden in the shell - one set that is small pincers for grooming, and then another set that are spatula shaped that help to hold them in their shell. It's technically their abdomen behind all those legs, but in a shrimp or lobster it would be called the "tail" that gets eaten by humans.
It sounds like you did see pleopods. They can vary in appearance between crabs and species, and also possibly during reproduction cycles. To me they look exactly like plant roots. In some crabs they're thick and creamy colored, other times they're hairy and black, and they can be anything in between. Even male crabs can have odd colored long hairs and growths on the ribs of the abdomen. All hermits are freaky looking back there!
Re: Tails!?
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:52 pm
by lessthansign3
wodesorel wrote:All hermits are freaky looking back there!
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of nekkid hermits. I mean, watching them change shells is fine, although I feel like a bit of a voyeur. But seriously crabs, stay in your shells. I don't wanna see your squishy bits
