Coconut Crabs and Sinistral Land Crabs

[Guest]

i have been wondering lately, coconut crabs shorten there abdomins wene thay cant get a big enough shell, and eventualy it happens any way even if thay do, but if u had a streker and kept it in such good conditions that it could perminantly servive, would it develop the same type of abdomin as a coconut crab, or would the abdomin harden atleest. just sommin to think about

[KittyCaller]

The coconut crab's adaptation came over millions of years of evolution and adapting. I'm afraid that just one one hermie can't hope to catch up to that. Coconut crabs are quite similar to hermies, but they're a totally different genus and species. They're much bigger, and I suspect, are better adapted for land than a lot of hermies, so they had to find a way to adapt to life without a shell (hence the more protected abdomen)Hermies have much softer abdomens all around, and really don't have any exo there. I don't think one hermie could hope to grow more exo in one lifetime.

[JediMasterThrash]

The coconut crab's abdomen hardens because that's how the genes for it's species tell it's body to grow. It's not because of simple environmental change (over the course of one life anyway).Other crab species don't grow hardened abdomens, so they always need protection.However, I don't think that being without a shell causes death. Rather, when a crab is already sick and close to death, that is when we see it leave its shell and streak. But the crab dies from its precondition illness, not because it was without a shell.Crabs on the beach will often have to scavenge for a new shell, and may not find one for a while, and may live in a bottle cap or something that doesn't even provide good moisture or heat containment. I've had crabs streak for several days and then go back to a normal life.Extended detachment from posterior confinement would though, of course, increase stress, make him more prone to injury, and reduce their ability to auto-regulate salinity and temperature.Normal growth of the crabs body can be modified over its life though (bonzai crab?). For instance, if a crab is only provided with sinistral shells, it will grow the larger pincher and leg on the right instead of the left, etc.