Crayfish exoskeleton is the part of the creature which shows autotomy and regeneration.
What is autotomy?
Autotomy or self-amputation is the behavior of an animal shedding or discarding one or more of its own appendages, frequently as a self-defense technique to elude a predator's grasp or to distract the predator and thus allow escape.
Are Autotomy and regeneration the same mechanisms?
No. Autotomy and regeneration are different processes however they are similar:
- Certain living organisms like crayfish exhibit two processes: autotomy and regeneration.
- The primary distinction between autotomy and regeneration is that during autotomy, body parts are eliminated or shed from the body, but during regeneration, body parts are replaced or formed into a new creature or the amputated body part is regrown
How does crayfish undergo autotomy and regeneration?
- Crayfish belong to the class of crustacenas which regularly shed their exoskeleton through autotomy and regrow a new one through regeneration.
- the exoskeleton is rigid and hence does not grow along the size of the creature which allows the creature to shed it off. this process is known as MOLTING.
- Crayfish molt because as their size grows, they must shed their hard exoskeletons and grow new, larger ones.
- A crayfish molts six to ten times throughout its first year of existence.
- Molting normally takes only a few minutes. On the back side, the crawfish's brittle exoskeleton breaks between the carapace (head) and abdomen (tail), and the crawfish normally retreats by tail flipping.
hence autotomy and regeneration go along each other in crayfish.
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