Why is my fiddler crab turning white? This particular question is being repeatedly asked by many people, especially those that are new to crab keeping. If you are familiar with crabs, especially brackish water crabs such as fiddler crab, you will notice that at some point in time, they will start changing color, turning white or whitish color. If you are confused and want to know why this is happening to your fiddler crab, then this article is for you.
Why is my Fiddler Crab turning white? Fiddler crabs could turn white when they are about to Molt. This is due to the beginning separation of the new cuticle from the old exoskeleton and may include partial reabsorption of the minerals, such as calcium, in the old shell.
The reason your fiddler crab might be turning white in color is simply that it is about to Molt.
Molting is the process by which animals such as crustaceans grow by removing or shedding off their old shells or skin to allow the inner shell to replace and advance in size.
All crustaceans do this to grow, and fiddler crabs belonging to the crab family do this too.
There are many characteristics they display when they are about to Molt or shed off their old shell.
This includes eating a lot and later lack of appetite, burrowing turning white, etc.
As I mentioned above, Fiddler Crabs turning white when they are about to Molt is a result of the beginning of the separation of the new cuticle from the old exoskeleton and may include partial reabsorption of the minerals, such as calcium, in the old shell.
Apart from this, you might easily mistake the old shell to be your crab because it will look exactly like the crab after Molting, but it will be white or whitish.
Why Do Crab Shells Turn White?
There are a few reasons why crabs shell. might turn white, this might be as a result of the Molting process.
Crabs like Fiddler crabs do turn white when they are ready to molt.
You might notice that not only Fiddler crabs could turn white at some period, but crabs like hermit crabs do also turn white at some point too.
The Hermit crab’s shell does turn white when she is wearing down.
As we do know, hermit crabs don’t own a shell of their own, they instead inhabit the shell of other animals such as snails, periwinkles, etc.
So when the borrowed shell starts to wear down or starts getting very old and lacking some minerals, it will begin to turn white.
Conclusion
Fiddler Crabs could only turn white when they are ready to Molt, so that’s why yours might be white
References
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2229841/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiSlr2kjZn3AhXChv0HHSEBCikQFnoECAkQAg&usg=AOvVaw0lk3r_85Bd90JaJwx9pS7N
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002209811830203X%23!&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiSlr2kjZn3AhXChv0HHSEBCikQFnoECAMQAg&usg=AOvVaw2VppkilOP3diNK-5DuGAVW
