Do crabs mate? How do they reproduce?

Answer 1

In the blue crab (a typical example) male waits for the female to molt and when she does her body is soft and he picks her up, and pierces her with his penis, injects sperm into the coelom and sperm travels until it finds the eggs.


She matures the eggs and some time after that she releases them into the currents, so they disperse

Answer 2

Most crabs show clear sexual dimorphism and so can be easily sexed. The abdomen, which is held recurved under the thorax, is narrow in males. In females, however, the abdomen is considerably wider, and retains a greater number of pleopods. This relates to the carrying of the fertilised eggs by the female crabs (as seen in all pleocyemates). In those species in which no such dimorphism is found, the position of the gonopores must be used instead. In females, these are on the third pereiopod, or nearby on the sternum in higher crabs; in males, the gonopores are at the base of the fifth pereiopods or, in higher crabs, on the sternum nearby.

Answer 3

I saw this on TV the female lays 1,000;s of eggs and the males just release sperm Around in the same place.Ill bet they arent all the same though.