I thought my female blue lobster had finally killed the male this evening. Only to discover he’s cast his shell!
I’ve removed it from the tank, I’ll take some pictures and post.
As with crabs, lobsters have to cast off their shell every so often in order to grow. After discarding the old shell, in a process called moulting, the lobster increases its size within a few hours, after the intake of a lot of water. The crabs are then left for a few days with a soft shell, until this new shell hardens.
The cast-off shell, is an exact replica of him, but empty!
