Emerald crab lifespan

[Kirschy17]

hey guys,

My 2 emerald crabs passed after 8-12 months in my tank. Both were lying dead in the sand. I have snails, hermits, urchins and seastars and i feed heavily frozen aswell as nori. Any idea why they passed?

Ive seen bigger ones im quite sure they were not fully mature.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

hey guys,

My 2 emerald crabs passed after 8-12 months in my tank. Both were lying dead in the sand. I have snails, hermits, urchins and seastars and i feed heavily frozen aswell as nori. Any idea why they passed?

Ive seen bigger ones im quite sure they were not fully mature.

I don't think I've ever had one last longer than a year, I'm sure there are exceptions, but they may have shorter lifespans than other inverts commonly kept in the hobby.

 

[ThunderGoose]

Glad to see this. I recently lost my last emerald crab. Now I suspect it was age related. Gonna order more because as soon as I lost them I started finding bubble algae again. I got them initially to control this and now it looks like they did.

Anyone know anything about sex determination in this species? I originally got 5 and only one was male. Was that luck? Or is sex determined by dominance or something. The male did go after my corals and had to be sumped, the females never did.

 

[Captain Quint]

hey guys,

My 2 emerald crabs passed after 8-12 months in my tank. Both were lying dead in the sand. I have snails, hermits, urchins and seastars and i feed heavily frozen aswell as nori. Any idea why they passed?

Ive seen bigger ones im quite sure they were not fully mature.

The max I've had any is ~14 months. The average studies show between 2 to 4 years but I've not heard of any up to 4 years.

 

[Captain Quint]

.................
Anyone know anything about sex determination in this species?...............

The only real way to tell and it can be difficult is to look at the bottom of its belly area of the crab.

The males have a stacked looking pillar-like area lower to mid center of his shell. There are probably pics on the internet somewhere.

 

[ThunderGoose]

The only real way to tell and it can be difficult is to look at the bottom of its belly area of the crab.

The males have a stacked looking pillar-like area lower to mid center of his shell. There are probably pics on the internet somewhere.

Sorry, I meant what determines which sex the crab will be - I can id the males and females. In humans it's the XY chromosome system (XY is male, XX is female. Usually) but that's not the case for most species, especially invertebrates.

Great video on different types of sex determination is at

 

[Captain Quint]

Sorry, I meant what determines which sex the crab will be - I can id the males and females. In humans it's the XY chromosome system (XY is male, XX is female. Usually) but that's not the case for most species, especially invertebrates.

Great video on different types of sex determination is at

Ah. Gotcha.

The video was interesting after the mammal section.

Intellectualism at its finest.

 

[Kirschy17]

Thanks for the replies, Dumb question but why do you care the sex? is it possible to breed them in captivity? is there a behavioral difference? also how big is your tank? i Had only 2 in my 65g.

 

[theMeat]

I’v had one for years. Don’t know if he was still alive.
When I put him in I occasionally saw it. Then I didn’t see it for a year or two. Figured it was dead. Until one day was rearranging and found him alive and tucked into a crevasse. It wasn’t cute anymore. It became less strawberry, bumpy with crust all over.

 

[ThunderGoose]

Thanks for the replies, Dumb question but why do you care the sex? is it possible to breed them in captivity? is there a behavioral difference? also how big is your tank? i Had only 2 in my 65g.

I only care about sex because the male I had began going after my corals and because I have a... condition... that means I have to know ALL THE THINGS.

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