Multiple species have evolved into crab body plans, and only a subset of “crabs” are actually true crabs. For example coconut crabs evolved from a hermit crab ancestor. King crabs too.
The tendency to adopt the crab meta for your species is called carcinization.
Multiple species have evolved into crab body plans, and only a subset of “crabs” are actually true crabs. For example coconut crabs evolved from a hermit crab ancestor. King crabs too.
The tendency to adopt the crab meta for your species is called carcinization.
There is also decarcinization for when a crab loses its crab body plan and becomes something else
And then some day there will be recarcinization where a species regrets being a shrimp and will become crab, destroyer of detritus, once again.