Evaluation of the molting stage of crustaceans is essential for studying their mating behavior because of molt-dependent changes in their behavior. For example, in species in which females mate just after molting, sexually mature premolt females are ready for courtship and postmolt females are ready for copulation. Non-invasive methods of evaluating molt stage are essential in studies of molt-dependent mating behavior so that normal behavior is not disrupted by the evaluation itself. The goal of the present study was to establish a non-invasive evaluation method for the helmet crab Telmessus cheiragonus, which is a model species for research on crustacean sex pheromones. We have identified morphological and behavioral indicators of molt stage. A morphological indicator of molt stage was a change in the color of the edge of telson and sixth abdominal segment, from a dark line to red in premolt animals to white in postmolt animals, which can be observed with the naked eye. A behavioral indicator of molt stage was that premolt females tended to fold their walking legs and chelae to adopt a precopulatory guarded position during artificial handling, whereas late postmolt stage females with developed ovaries and early premolt females in an early molting stage did not show this behavior. These non-invasive morphological and behavioral characteristics are useful indicators of the premolt stage of sexually mature female helmet crabs.

甲壳动物蜕皮阶段的评估对于研究它们的交配行为至关重要，因为它们的行为依赖于蜕皮变化。例如，在雌性蜕皮后立即交配的物种中，性成熟的蜕皮前雌性准备好求偶，而蜕皮后雌性准备好交配。评价蜕皮阶段的非侵入性方法对于依赖蜕皮的交配行为的研究至关重要，因此正常行为不会因评估本身而受到干扰。本研究的目的是建立一种针对甲壳蟹Telemsus cheiragonus的非侵入性评估方法，该物种是用于研究甲壳类性信息素的模型物种。我们已经确定了蜕皮阶段的形态和行为指标。蜕皮阶段的形态学指示是telson和第六腹节边缘的颜色变化，从暗线到蜕皮动物的红色到蜕皮动物的白色，可以用肉眼观察到。蜕皮期的一个行为指标是，在人工处理期间，蜕皮前的雌性倾向于折叠行走的腿和以采取交配前保护的姿势，而卵巢发育后期的蜕皮后期雌性和蜕皮早期的早期蜕皮前雌性没有表现出这种行为。 。这些无创的形态和行为特征是性成熟雌性头盔蟹的蜕皮前期的有用指标。