Mirelurk Hatchlings are the first stage of mirelurk growth after emerging from eggs. Nests typically contain large numbers of egg clusters to ensure that at least some of their number will reach adulthood. 

However, the attrition rate is high. Some eggs are not viable, some hatchlings are too weak to survive. There is also no love lost for the hatchlings from the colony. The vast numbers of these creatures mean they are individually unimportant in many ways – they are even used as living projectiles by the queen when she is threatened; so long as some of them mature and the whole colony survives, they are dangerous but expendable swarms.