Regeneration of lost limbs

[Niko]

This poor brevimanus was bring to me recently by a friend who found him at Houten (Netherland) annual exhibition's. There were 5 clypeatus with him, so i think that he certainly has bad times with such bullies in the seller tank's.



The two of the long antennae, one of the first pair, one leg and left claw were lost. At the time i received him, i though that he won't live for a long time. Despite his bad state he wasn't lethargic, and reacted properly to stimulations. Rapidly i noticed too that he had already started regeneration process ; two transparent exgrowths could be observed in the former place of the missing limbs.



I though that he got a good potential to survive and placed him rapidly in one isolation tank, with food and calcium food (crushed oyster shells). All food was was cut in very small parts or crunched if possible to allow him to catch food easily with only one claw. It worked (it allowed him to catch food directly with his maxillipeds) and he spent long time to eat and drink after i put him in the isolation unit.

1 week later the two transparent exgrowths have grown and the shape of the futur members can be clearly seen now. He spends lot of time to eat and drink.



At the same, i noticed that he digs more and more frequently, spending lot of time under one of the food dish.

Three days ago, i found him under the food dish again, just to see that he had just molt (brevimanus exhibit a nice bluish color after moulting).



I'm going to wait his come back to normal life and will post photo of his news leg and claw.

[crypticlaman]

Wow!! Awesome pictures. His coloring is gorgeous...thanks for sharing. ive got my first molter under now (I think).

[Niko]

Thanks Crypticlaman.

[Suebee]

I find that all Coenobita brevimanus would rather molt under somthing then dig down deep. They like to molt close to the surface and that is a good reason to never keep them with Coenobita violascens who love to dig up molters. Again you have some great photos. I love that you can see the way the leg is folded in the gel limb. Its amazing how the crabs will stand in a dish and eat with any leg that is touching the food. I had a voilascense who had 3 missing legs and a missing BP come up looking like she was a shiny new perfect crab. I havent found Coenobita clypeatus to be bullies. Violascense seem to be the biggest bullies ive found and due the the strong BP for climbing trees they can give a heck of a pinch to another crab. I know of crabs who droped legs due to being caught in a net or other tight place, it could be that in gathering the crab he got stuck and lost the leg then? I love the color of a molting Brevimanus. I have a lovely Coenobita brevimanus roseus female that is the ruler of my tank. My queen. Her lovely pink color is breath taking against the tank and other crabs. Drop me a email I can send you some of her photos if you would like. However they are not at good as your photos!
my email is here [this has been edited out as this information should not be broadcast where everyone can see it]
First edited by Emma, I noted full e-mail in signature but cannot edit. Note to Wai!

[emmac350]

Suebee, I'd love to see pictures of your pink Indo here on the forum...I've seen a few pictures online, but never ones that fellow crabbers owned! I've only ever seen PPs and Es in real life, so seeing real-life pictures of exotics (not stock photos used to try to sell crabs) would be awesome!

[ladybug15057]

O/T EEks, I did try to edit, but Emma yours is there?
Niko your pictures are so clear! What kind of camera do you use?
Per chance, did you happen to notice if the gel limbs changed coloring the closer he got to molting?

[Niko]

O/T EEks, I did try to edit, but Emma yours is there?
Niko your pictures are so clear! What kind of camera do you use?
Per chance, did you happen to notice if the gel limbs changed coloring the closer he got to molting?

Hi Marie, i use Canon EOS 400 D camera sometimes with lens x6, x12, x24 to make macrophotography (as here).

During the process, i didn't notice any changes in the color of the gel limbs the closer he got to molting.

[CrabbyJo]

Beautiful pictures, Niko, thank you so much for sharing them with us!
Beautiful examples of gel limbs, I don't think I've seen a picture as clear, although Marie has shared a few with us that were nearly as clear. It's nice to have a picture to point to when trying to describe gel limbs to new crabbers, it took me a long time to realize just what I was looking for on my crabs.

So glad you came to share them on our forums!

[Niko]

Thanks Crabbyjoe, glad to have joined your community.

This evening the C. brevimanus came out and show me his new leg and claw (black spot).



I'm very surprise by the differences of size and shape between the gel limbs just before moulting and the fully regenerated limbs after moulting, a spectacular metamorphosis.

[ladybug15057]

During the process, i didn't notice any changes in the color of the gel limbs the closer he got to molting.

Thanks Niko! Yowie (PP) was missing a limb when I got him. His gel limb as the one above was 'clear-ish' and when he was close to molting it turned the brownish/reddish when he got closer to actually molting. I noted this with an E as well, after her gel limb was completely formed. (formed as in what I relate to the 'knee', 'thigh' and 'calf' sections...she was mutilated during a surprise molt in the main tank) The straws gel limb I noted turns a pinkish in coloring, but they appear beet red when they molt.