In California, the most abundant crab is the Dungeness crab, ... days that the crab undergoes a period of rapid growth before the new shell becomes calcified and fixes the size of the crab until the next molt. Two sets of data are provided. The claws of the Dungeness Crab are very sharp and they use them to be able to grasp food and then to break it apart. Pre-mating embraces of crab occur when males detect pheromones exuded by females indicating that they are ready to molt. Molted crab shells have all the external parts intact — including legs, antennae, eyes, and gill supports, which makes it difficult to tell whether or not you are looking at a dead crab or just a molt. Molting involves shedding an old shell and casting a new. Pre-molt is the size of the carapace before molting, post-molt A Dungeness crab is most vulnerable during the molt, when it sheds one shell and slowly grows another. Dungeness Crab Feeding. They consume clams, crustaceans, small species of fish, and just about anything that they can find that other predators have left behind. Dungeness crab rest in a container as they are weighed during the opening day of commercial Dungeness crab season at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on … Molting begins with a secretion of hormones from the female crab, after which both female and male crabs fast. Dungeness Crab Molting The data for this project were collected as part of a study of the adult female Dungeness crab. The first consists of premolt and postmolt widths of the carapaces (shells) of 472 female Dun-geness crabs. These data are a mixture of some laboratory data and some capture–recapture data. The data given for this investigation is pre-molt and post-molt size, increment, year, and source. The Data. When small, a crab will seek shelter in the shells of small bivalves; as it grows larger, it move to eelgrass habitat where numerous varieties of prey can be found. To find a crab’s age, the pre-molt and post-molt sizes are observed. Fall is when the larger crab's are molting and it takes longer for them to grow their shells. “This industry-supported quality test determines if Dungeness crab have filled out in time following their molting period,” said CDFW Environmental Scientist Christy Juhasz. Mating and spawning of Dungeness crab occur at two different times. They also have smaller appendages that allow them to move the food into their mouth. they molt regularly . Mating occurs in the late spring and summer months when females are molting and males are still in a hard shelled condition. It molts a minimum of ten times before it is fully grown. Crab reproduction. one. 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