Dragencrab

Crawling across the sandy coasts of the Anar Sea lives a peculiar species of crustaceans know as the Dragencrab. The dragencrab is a large breed of hermit crabs which uses the skulls of dragons as surrogate shells to protect their weak exoskeletons. They prefer dragon skulls because of the strength of their bones and because they scare of any potential predators.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Dragencrabs hold on to their dragon skulls using two hooks on their soft abdomen, called uropods. The first uropod is on the upper part of their abdomen near its base, and is used to hold onto the cranium of the skull. The second uropod is on the end of the abdomen, which itself curls around the body under the stomach to protect the soft underbelly. This uropod is used to hold onto the jaws of the skull. Together they give the dragencrab the appearance of a chattering dragon skull while it walks.

Ecology and Habitats

Dragencrabs are terrestrial creatures, avoiding the wild waters of the Anar Sea for the safety of the sands. Here they keep the beaches clean by gorging themselves on the carrion of fish, whales, and any other cadavers which wash up on the shore. An adult dragencrab can reach a height of 2 meters, and they are known to occasionally attack weak humanoids that come to close to their territory.

Biological Cycle

Newly born dragencrabs start of wearing the skulls of mice and other small critters. As they grow up they move on to the skulls of humans and cattle, before eventually settling into the dragon skulls they call home as an adult. When a dragencrab grows too big it will abandon its old skull, and replace it with a bigger one. It is rare for a skull to be perfectly fitting for a dragencrab. Some are too small while others are too big, and most creature's have jaws without a solid plate between the jaw bones. The dragencrab uses a chemical compound that it produces in its mouth the turn excessive bone from inside the cranium into a liquid, this liquid is then caught in the jaw, where it slowly turns solid again and forms a additional protective plate for the uropod the hold onto. These skulls, once improved by a dragencrab, can be used for over a hundred generations.