Emerald Molt or Corpse?

[Fade2White12]

For as long as I've had this little female Emerald Crab, I've never had it molt. It has stayed the same size for close to a year or more. Anyway, I found what either is a corpse or a molt, but on inspecting it, it doesn't look like I see it split anywhere. What are some tell-tale signs to figure if this is a molt? Or what can I do to make sure it's one or the other?

 

Thanks

[PIIMBP]

If it is really dense and hard, than it is probably the corpse. Molts tend to be a bit squishy IMO.

[Flynnie]

Mine just molted, and from what mine did- they do not split. Check the remains, if there is meat or anything fleshy in it, its dead. If it is crunchy and seems to be all shell- it is molting somewhere. If you cant reach it, look to see if anything seems to be feasting on it. If it is just a molt, fish or members of your CUC will have minimal interest. BTW: mine almost doubled in size when it molted. Good luck - Dan.

[jamesnmandy]

the emerald crab molts can be extremely hard to tell from a dead crab...i know, i held one in my hand and looked closely and was fully convinced my crab had died because he was also nowhere to be found.....a day later, after flushing what i thought was the corpse, there he was, healthy as can be.....so dont feel bad if it's hard to tell, just flush it and wait for the best

[allenspidey]

I just threw out what I thought to be a dead emerald. Now I'm not so sure. One day healthy, the next dead. That kind of suprised me. I don't see it often anyways so I'll give it a while before I officially declare it dead. It has been in there for 6-8 months and seemed to be doing fine. I hope it was just a molt.

[jamesnmandy]

I just threw out what I thought to be a dead emerald. Now I'm not so sure. One day healthy, the next dead. That kind of suprised me. I don't see it often anyways so I'll give it a while before I officially declare it dead. It has been in there for 6-8 months and seemed to be doing fine. I hope it was just a molt.

 

 

based on what i have seen myself and what others have said, i would have to put my money on it being a molt

[Fade2White12]

I crushed it, in order to inspect it and it was still quite hard. But looking inside it didn't look like any meat was still in there, but it's hard to be sure. It definitely wasn't squishy though. I saw him on Friday too, so if he died Saturday, I wouldn't think that his insides would not have been cleaned out so quickly. When I found him deep in the rocks, the only animals near him were some amphipods - no snails/hermits.

 

The only way I thought I would be sure is if I dissected it, and like I said, I don't think there was meat inside. So I'm hopeful that Phil is still alive in there. Even though Emeralds are so cheap, I've had Phil since I started back up this tank so it'll be quite sad.

 

I'll keep looking

[allenspidey]

I crushed it, in order to inspect it and it was still quite hard. But looking inside it didn't look like any meat was still in there, but it's hard to be sure. It definitely wasn't squishy though. I saw him on Friday too, so if he died Saturday, I wouldn't think that his insides would not have been cleaned out so quickly. When I found him deep in the rocks, the only animals near him were some amphipods - no snails/hermits.

 

The only way I thought I would be sure is if I dissected it, and like I said, I don't think there was meat inside. So I'm hopeful that Phil is still alive in there. Even though Emeralds are so cheap, I've had Phil since I started back up this tank so it'll be quite sad.

 

I'll keep looking

I have yet to find mine either. I had already thrown it out before reading this but I still think it was dead and not a molt. Just looked like a body and not a shell.