Time-Lapse Video of a Crab Molting - Neatorama

(YouTube Link)

This time-lapse video was recorded during six hours at the Enoshima Aquarium in Fujisawa, Japan. It shows a Japanese spider crab shedding its shell. The crab measures over twelve feet across.

via Pink Tentacle | Previously: Crabzilla

That's pretty awesome. Wasn't what I was expecting to happen (not that I had any idea what to expect).

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That...was...AWESOME!

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GNARLY!

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Just imagine a twelve foot soft shell crab sandwich.

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Edward - EXACTLY what I was thinking

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Very cool, but the final exit at around 1 minute is easily the most terrifying thing I've seen today. Creepy as heck, I've got shivers!

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Wow, that was crazy! It slipped out of the old shell like it was taking off a sock.

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Coolest thing I have seen in a very long time.

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Twelve feet!? But how does it taste? (I actually looked this up to make sure twelve feet was right...that's insane!!)

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But if I happened to run into this thing in the wild (and I didn't immediately drop dead of fright), how dangerous is it?

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Does anyone know how long it take for the crab's new shell to harden? I assume it will be vulnerable to predators in the meantime.

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That was.... delicious.

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Pro tip, don't time lapse anything that's 12ft. across. I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight.

12ft is the length of your cars, people!

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Seriously, fried softshell crab is awesome, but kinda feel bad for all the work he has to go through to become so damn tasty!

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This is terrifying. Not in the least b/c the crab is 12 feet long?

I read that as 2 ft initially and I was much more comfortable with the whole thing.

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TWELVE FEET?!

But I'm only 5 feet 4.5 inches . . .

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That's freaking awesome.

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I could totally easily eat 12ft worth of crab, and that's all I thought for the entire clip.

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Here's a picture for reference.

http://conservationreport.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/japanese-spider-crab.jpg

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The first time I saw an image of that crab was in National Geographic. There was a diver stadning near it, to give you a idea of size. It was mostly leg. When you see one next to a diver - you then realize it aint that scary.

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I am totally glad that people don't molt.

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NSFW on the front page?? NOT COOL!!

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