Preggers crab?

[Mpy]

soo... I think my decorator crab may be pregnant/have a batch of eggs. Anyone able to provide any info on this? They were wild collected about 6 mo ago in the Indian River Lagoon.

 

[KirbyBTF]

Kill it with fire before they spread! Sorry, those terrify me.

 

[Calappidae]

I can't tell, any pics from underneithe rather than the front?

 

[Mpy]

here is the underside of the female. the first pictures I posted it had the belly open.

 

[radiata]

How many decorator crabs are you housing in the same tank?

 

[Calappidae]

If thats the only one than if it does have eggs more than likely they're not fertilized.

 

[Mpy]

Actually looking at their apron(correct term?)(underside) I actually have a male female pair that lives in my sump. They used to be in my display tank until I got some zoas. Im in the process of setting up a 10g with a sponge filter so the larva wont get sucked through a pump.

 

[Mpy]

Update: She has been moved into a separate 10g tank with sponge filter and heater so the crab larvae wont be released into my main system if that time comes.

After doing some research I found out that decorator crabs can hold onto their eggs for over 3 months. :eek2::eek2:

 

[Calappidae]

Wow thats a long time..

I guess we shall wait and see then :reading:

 

[Mpy]

Sooo.... I think i took the female out a bit too late. Or this is not their first batch of babies.

I have 2 pictures of the one baby crab i found. its pretty tiny, about the size of a bb. (i have huge hands)

 

[Betta132]

Awww! It's adorable!
Maybe you should put it in a tiny tank of its own and see if it picks things up and carries them around like the adults. I bet just a few gallons of water would be enough to keep it happy for until it got larger.

 

[Mpy]

it is currently in a 10 gal by itself. Once i get my new 25 cube set up it will probably move into there until it gets too big

 

[Calappidae]

Nice!

If nothing else is in the tank it could live long term in the 25.

I personally had bad experience with this type of crab.. killed a scooter blenny and yellow angelfish.

 

[Mpy]

I have had 2 for about 8 months now, so far i havent had any issues with them and fish, but they do love to eat snails. If he goes in the 25gal it would be until he gets bigger or until i get corals for it.

 

[Mpy]

Well I caught my decorators at it again yesterday. Unfortunately I was only able to catch the end of it, but it is pretty neat as the female opens her abdomen. We will see if they manage to have any babies survive the filtration.

 

[Sammykonga]

Wow! Thanks for sharing this. Very cool and it's always nice to see success in this hobby!