Mud Crab’s Mottled, Deep-Blue Exoskeleton: Surface Morphology and Internal Microstructure

The claws of the mud crab, Scylla serrata, are huge in comparison with its body size. Many bulges ranging from 5 to 23 μm in height and 90 to 146 µm in diameter were observed on the mottled, deep-blue exoskeleton surface of the mud crab’s claw. These cuticle bulges were closely related to irregularly present exocuticles on the surface layer of the exoskeleton’s cross section. The bulges exist between the exocuticles, and at the apex of these bulges was a tube that bundled many pore canals that penetrated the exoskeleton. This tube was thick (62–66 µm) near the inner side and narrowed (12–22 µm) toward the outer surface. On the other hand, the exocuticles had a heterogeneous tissue structure in a coarse region extending normally to the surface, with a diameter of 3 to 7 µm, and a dense region between them. Calcium concentrations were high in the dense region, and phosphorus and magnesium concentrations were high in the coarse region. As a result, the mechanical properties (hardness: H and modulus: Er) were distributed inside the exocuticle, and the mapping of H and Er using a nanoindentation test clarified the heterogeneity.