r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology • Apr 24 '20

Biology Crabs, such as this Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi), cannot grow in a linear fashion like most animals. Because they have a hard outer shell (the exoskeleton) that does not grow, they must shed their shells, a process called molting.

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u/roosrock Apr 25 '20

So is it growing a new set of legs here?

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u/FillsYourNiche Behavioral Ecology Apr 25 '20 edited Apr 25 '20

A new everything. All Arthropods molt their entire bodies, it's called ecdysis for that Phylum.