After development as larvae, the juvenile crabs gradually move upstream into fresh water, thus completing the life cycle.

While juvenile and adult crabs spend most of their time on dry land, the females must return to the ocean to release their eggs.

It can vary in coloration from yellow to brown with the juvenile crabs tending to be darker than adults.

The juvenile crabs steal food from the jellyfish and also clean off parasitic amphipods.

Before developing into juvenile crabs, larval brush-clawed crabs spend almost one month floating in the ocean.

They share the same habitat as juvenile green crabs and mud crabs.

Females can produce up to 185,000 eggs, and larvae develop offshore in several stages before their final moult to juvenile crabs in the intertidal zone.

After that the larvae settle on the sea bed and undergo metamorphosis into juvenile crabs.

The color of these crabs varies throughout their development; juvenile crabs typically have a white or yellow carapace, while adults are usually crimson red.

The larvae go through six stages in about four weeks before emerging as juvenile crabs.