Crab Limb Regeneration

Like the salamander, many species of arthropods can regenerate limbs. Crabs are well known for their ability to autotomize, or deliberately sever, limbs that may have been grasped by a predator.

Just like a salamander limb that requires a truncated nerve for regeneration to occur, the leg nerve in fiddler crabs is necessary for regeneration. In a dramatic parallel with salamander limb regeneration, it is thought that the nerve releases a version of Fgf to stimulate the regeneration process.