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Science 11 July 2003:
Vol. 301. no. 5630, pp. 209 - 210
DOI: 10.1126/science.1085987
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Reports

Switching Skeletons: Hydrostatic Support in Molting Crabs

Jennifer R. A. Taylor and William M. Kier

Skeletal support systems are essential for support, movement, muscular antagonism, and locomotion. Crustaceans shed their rigid exoskeleton at each molt yet are still capable of forceful movement. We hypothesize that the soft water-inflated body of newly molted crabs may rely on a hydrostatic skeleton, similar to that of worms and polyps. We measured internal hydrostatic pressure and the force exerted during claw adduction and observed a strong correlation between force and hydrostatic pressure, consistent with hydrostatic skeletal support. This alternation between the two basic skeletal types may be widespread among arthropods.

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

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mechanical properties of the rigid and hydrostatic skeletons of molting blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun.
J. R. A. Taylor, J. Hebrank, and W. M. Kier (2007)
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