IQ2 ] 



Fish and Their Fabulous Neighbors 



SEASHORE SCAVENGERS 



Crabs are useful as scavengers. They have five pairs of legs, the front pair being 

 pinching claws for seizing food and fighting, the last pair fin-shaped for swimming, 

 and the legs in between adapted for walking. Their eyes are on long stalks equipped 

 with antennae. Nature explorers young and old find crabs fun to watch. 



it is a little over five inches wide, and is commonly reddish purple 

 in color. Like all crabs, the little fellow has five pairs of legs. The 

 first pair are adapted as pinching claws, and in some crabs the 

 last two pairs, shaped like fins, serve effectively as swimming aids. 

 It is amusing to watch crabs walk they move sideways instead 

 of forward or backward. Shore crabs are rather slow in their 

 movements; the swimming crabs are considerably more active. 



Spare Parts: If a crab accidentally loses a claw, it can grow a new 

 one. During its lifetime it also replaces its shell, not because of a 

 mishap, but because its body gradually grows too big for the 

 shell. When the original shell starts getting too snug, the animal 

 pulls itself free, and until it grows a new covering it is known 

 as a "soft-shell" crab. 



