celacanthr
Active Member
Ok, this is the January IOTM, so get a drink or something to eat, because it is kind of long winded and um…boring, well at least if you are not very interested in the biology.
But, I do realize the need for a person to skip the science blabber, and get right to the meat of the subject…care. For those so inclined, you can just skip straight on down to the end of this article, where in bold it says “care”, where I shall attempt to outline what these guys need.
Mithrax sculptus
I will begin by showing their “family tree” to everyone:
Eukaryote
--Animalia
----Arthropoda
[hr]
Malacostraca
[hr]
Decapoda
[hr]
Majidae
[hr]
Mithraculus (Mithrax)
[hr]
sculptus
(there are a couple of other species, if so requested, I wouldn’t mind doing some more research, and elaborating on these other species, it is just that they aren’t commonly seen in the aquarium trade, so I do not feel a need to really elaborate on them.)
Well, now that we got that out of the way, lets get in to behaviors, and anatomies of these vegan terrors.
Well, I am having a little trouble figuring out where to start, so I guess I will start with what they look like.
Description:
Emerald crabs, named this because of there very green color, hence “emerald”. On the ends of their claws (where the claws meet when closed) it is white. I have also seen and heard of the red on the inside of there joints. Mine personally never showed this red, so maybe the red is only in mature individuals or maybe only individuals of a certain gender?
Emerald crab legs can only be described as “hairy”. I am not sure the reason that they are hairy, but they just are. Something imortant about there legs is that at the end, they have very sharp/strong (won’t break easily) points. I do know why they have these. In the wild, they
can encounter very strong currents. These legs prevent them from being carried away by the current…or the aquarist.
But, I do realize the need for a person to skip the science blabber, and get right to the meat of the subject…care. For those so inclined, you can just skip straight on down to the end of this article, where in bold it says “care”, where I shall attempt to outline what these guys need.
Mithrax sculptus
I will begin by showing their “family tree” to everyone:
Eukaryote
--Animalia
----Arthropoda
[hr]
Malacostraca
[hr]
Decapoda
[hr]
Majidae
[hr]
Mithraculus (Mithrax)
[hr]
sculptus
(there are a couple of other species, if so requested, I wouldn’t mind doing some more research, and elaborating on these other species, it is just that they aren’t commonly seen in the aquarium trade, so I do not feel a need to really elaborate on them.)
Well, now that we got that out of the way, lets get in to behaviors, and anatomies of these vegan terrors.
Well, I am having a little trouble figuring out where to start, so I guess I will start with what they look like.
Description:
Emerald crabs, named this because of there very green color, hence “emerald”. On the ends of their claws (where the claws meet when closed) it is white. I have also seen and heard of the red on the inside of there joints. Mine personally never showed this red, so maybe the red is only in mature individuals or maybe only individuals of a certain gender?
Emerald crab legs can only be described as “hairy”. I am not sure the reason that they are hairy, but they just are. Something imortant about there legs is that at the end, they have very sharp/strong (won’t break easily) points. I do know why they have these. In the wild, they
can encounter very strong currents. These legs prevent them from being carried away by the current…or the aquarist.