My crab is on youtube really!
- Thread starter jackiomy
- Start date
Most "rainbow crabs" are Cardisoma armatum (collected in West Africa), but I think that yours is actually an American species, C. guanhumi -- the "blue land crab" or "great land crab".
For comparison:
There is variability in coloration between blue land crabs from different locales, which probably has both genetic and dietary explanations.
That's a great video, Jacki... thanks for doing that.
Rainbow Crabs are also called Patriot Crabs (because they're "red, white, and blue" which isn't true, it's more of an orange, white, and indigo), Moon Crabs, Land Crabs, and Soapdish Crabs (because that's what they used as containers to import them from West Africa). They have a few other common names, too.. just don't remember them all off-hand.
They're opportunistic feeders, so they'll eat anything they get hold of... animal or vegetable. You might also get some frozen krill for him... or give him raw shrimp from the grocery store. Mine has even eaten some boiled chicken and an occasional slice of hot dog. (What can I say, he looked hungry so I shared a piece... lol.)
BTW, the color variation is all the same species. They're brightly colored as juveniles, but that color fades away as they get older and it takes on a worn leather kind of appearance. Here's what the young guys look like.
Crabman is beautiful.. and you have him in a wonderful setup.
I just love them. (Mine is named Crusty.)
Rainbow Crabs are also called Patriot Crabs (because they're "red, white, and blue" which isn't true, it's more of an orange, white, and indigo), Moon Crabs, Land Crabs, and Soapdish Crabs (because that's what they used as containers to import them from West Africa). They have a few other common names, too.. just don't remember them all off-hand.
They're opportunistic feeders, so they'll eat anything they get hold of... animal or vegetable. You might also get some frozen krill for him... or give him raw shrimp from the grocery store. Mine has even eaten some boiled chicken and an occasional slice of hot dog. (What can I say, he looked hungry so I shared a piece... lol.)
BTW, the color variation is all the same species. They're brightly colored as juveniles, but that color fades away as they get older and it takes on a worn leather kind of appearance. Here's what the young guys look like.
Crabman is beautiful.. and you have him in a wonderful setup.
I just love them. (Mine is named Crusty.)
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Based on the photos below (Ng & Guinot, 2001), I've reconsidered my ID. There does seem to be some morphological overlap, but unless Crabman turns out to have been collected in the Americas, I'll say that he's most likely a Cardisoma armatum, as originally thought.
Was he every any other color? I've seen 3-inch C. armatum that were more like the ones Kashta posted, so I suppose that threw me off.
C. guanhumi ("Panama"):
C. carnifex ("Sabah, Malaysia"):
C. armatum ("West Africa"):
Below's a shot of a C. guanhumi that I met in Puerto Rico.
Resource:
NG, P.K.L. AND GUINOT, D. On the land crabs of the genus Discoplax A. Milne Edwards, 1867 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinidae), with description of a new cavernicolous species from the Philippines. Pp. 311-338. [pdf, 3701kb]
Was he every any other color? I've seen 3-inch C. armatum that were more like the ones Kashta posted, so I suppose that threw me off.
C. guanhumi ("Panama"):
C. carnifex ("Sabah, Malaysia"):
C. armatum ("West Africa"):
Below's a shot of a C. guanhumi that I met in Puerto Rico.
Resource:
NG, P.K.L. AND GUINOT, D. On the land crabs of the genus Discoplax A. Milne Edwards, 1867 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Gecarcinidae), with description of a new cavernicolous species from the Philippines. Pp. 311-338. [pdf, 3701kb]
