Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Biomechanics

A pneumo-hydrostatic skeleton in land crabs

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

From Nature

View current issue Submit your manuscript

A sophisticated dual support system enables a crab to stay mobile immediately after moulting.

Abstract

Like their aquatic counterparts, terrestrial crabs repeatedly shed their rigid exoskeleton during moulting. But in the case of land crabs, little water is available to provide a temporary hydrostatic skeleton before the new skeleton hardens, and air does not provide the buoyancy necessary to support the animal. Here we show that whenever its exoskeleton is shed, the blackback land crab Gecarcinus lateralis relies on an unconventional type of hydrostatic skeleton that uses both gas and liquid (a ‘pneumo-hydrostat’). To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence for a locomotor skeleton that depends on a gas. It establishes a new category of hydrostatic skeletal support and possibly a critical adaptation to life on land for the Crustacea.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1: Haemolymph and gut-gas pressures and movement forces in land crabs after shedding of the exoskeleton.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Drach, P. Ann. Inst. Océanogr. 19, 103–391 (1939).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Passano, L. M. in The Physiology of Crustacea Vol. 2 (ed. Waterman, T. H.) 473–536 (Academic, New York, 1960).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Skinner, D. M. in The Biology of Crustacea Vol. 9 (eds Bliss, D. E. & Mantel, L. H.) 43–146 (Academic, Orlando, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Reynolds, S. E. in Advances in Insect Physiology (eds Berridge, M. J., Treherne, J. E. & Wigglesworth, V. B.) 475–595 (Academic, London, 1980).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Miles, C. I. & Booker, R. J. Exp. Biol. 201, 1785–1798 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Hughes, T. D. Physiol. Entomol. 5, 153–164 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cottrell, C. B. J. Exp. Biol. 39, 431–448 (1962).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bliss, D. E. Am. Zool. 8, 355–392 (1968).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Bliss, D. E. Am. Zool. 19, 385–410 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Taylor, J. R. A. & Kier, W. M. Science 301, 209–210 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Chapman, G. Biol. Rev. 33, 338–371 (1958).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Chapman, G. J. Exp. Zool. 194, 249–270 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Clark, R. B. Dynamics of Metazoan Evolution (Clarendon, Oxford, 1964).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, USA

    Jennifer R. A. Taylor & William M. Kier

Authors
  1. Jennifer R. A. Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. William M. Kier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer R. A. Taylor.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Taylor, J., Kier, W. A pneumo-hydrostatic skeleton in land crabs. Nature 440, 1005 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/4401005a

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/4401005a

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation