Plants and Animals

Why are some blue crabs soft-shelled?

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In the hard-shell form, the crab is in an intermolt phase (between molts) and the exoskeleton is fully hardened (sclerotized). In its soft-shell stage, the crab is in the phase just after the molt but before the exoskeleton has hardened.

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Similar questions: What, beyond the obvious, is the difference between a hard-shell and soft-shell blue crab? Can you explain, why blue crabs are soft-shelled sometimes? [ Hide these questions ]

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