*2.1. Ethical Statement*

All experiments involving *M. japonicus* crabs in this study were carried out in accordance with the guidelines and regulations approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Chonnam National University.

### *2.2. Preparation of M. japonicus Individuals*

Crabs used in this study were collected from the Yeosu marine products market in Korea. All individuals involved were 3 ± 0.5 cm in shell height, 3.5 ± 0.8 cm in shell width, and 7.5 ± 3.5 g in body weight. We prepared glass tanks (45.7 × 35.6 × 30.5 cm) filled with seawater at 18 ◦C, with 25% salinity and a photoperiod of 12 h. Crabs were stabilized in glass tanks for 1 day prior to exposure to DEHP solutions. After 1 day, healthy, undamaged crabs were selected for DEHP exposure experiments (below).
