All of the crustaceans taste good to fishes.  However, the larger ones grow tougher shells and big enough pincers to impose a threat even to some of the larger fishes.  We’ll go through some of them in order of size.

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Small crabs are often shipped with Styrofoam packing to protect them during transit.

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Styrofoam floats act like little life rafts for mini-crabs.

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One of the kids in the store asked, "Does that crab have rabies?"

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Fiddlers like to argue over high points.

Peaceful Scavengers include the smaller guys.  You can mix these in most tanks without someone getting eaten IF you mix similar-sized specimens.  Otherwise, they eat each other.  

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Herd of fiddler crabs just going about their business. 

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When kept on sand, mini-crabs dig burrows -- three to the right of their food dish.

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You can sometimes see their tunnels thru the glass -- like an ant farm.

Mini-Crabs.   Not easily confused with Alaskan king crabs, the fiddler  crabs in this corner weigh in at about 50 to 80 to the pound.  They live along the edges of the water and serve as the shore-side clean up crew.  They eat whatever washes up -- no matter what condition they find it in.  Think of them as scavengers or the original beach combers.  They do not like deep water.

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Female fiddler crab.  No big claw like the males carry.

Fiddler Crab males sport one big claw to wave at females and to fight other males with.  Females get along just fine with two small claws.  Crabs who lose their claws in fights or carelessly leave them at the movies, will re-grow them when they molt.

Fiddler Crabs really do better in terrariums than completely underwater.  They like to climb out on the land most of the time.  They earn their name from the one large claw the male waves around to attract the female.  Females grow two normal-sized claws.  In spite of their claws, they’re not much of a threat to fishes.

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Gold claw crabs look much like fiddlers.

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More gold claw crabs.

Gold Claw crabs all (both sexes) carry that great big waving claw.  Females wave at males and who knows what.  They look very similar to fiddlers.  Fiddler males sport a white-edged claw.  The difference is probably much more important to the crabs.  They get along fine in the same group.

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Nigerian crab.

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Same species a bit smaller and a lot more alive.

Many Names:  Many closely related species appear on the market.  They come in as soap dish crabs, Columbian crabs, moon crabs, and patriot crabs (because of the colors).  They will not allow fish to live in their tank.  Many also like to fight each other.

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Watermelon Crabs.  Brand new to us this year (2003).  Expensive.

Hermit Crabs:  Several species of these guys abound.  They do not mix in fish tanks.  Saltwater hermit crabs live in seawater.  They eat or destroy anything they can reach.  The pet hermit crabs live in trees.  Give them something to climb on.

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Soap dish crab shipping containers full of cargo.

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Soap dish crabs put the "crab" into crabby disposition.

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Don't try this with a live soap dish crab.

Soap Dish Crabs:  Importers ship soap dish crabs individually in (oddly enough) soap dishes.  This keeps them from killing each other.  They are not good mixers.

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Less colorful brownish version of the "soap dish crab.".

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This guy's better looking.  Still a great pincher.

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Yes, they eat mollies and other fishes.

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Yum, tasty.

Soap Dish Crabs eat fish and anything else that gets close – including each other.  You cannot mix them with anything.  They’re beautiful and come in four colors:  red, yellow, orange, and purple.  Just remember that these colorful crabs are efficient killers.  Keep them by themselves.  They get their names from the way they’re shipped into our country.  Each one gets packed into its own, individual soap dish.  That’s the way their captors keep them from killing each other.

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Rusty crab

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Another rusty crab.

Rusty Crabs:  Also great at pinching, these little guys will survive in deep water.  Do not trust them around fish.  Kinda drab little critters.

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Mosaic crab.  Very active and wiggly.  Hard to photograph.  Looks like rusty above.

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Under view of another Mosaic crab.

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Different Mosaic crab in same tank.

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Happy view of the same female Mosaic crab.

Mosaic Crab.  We know little about these guys.  They just showed up recently.  We can’t see the “mosaic pattern.”  Maybe it’s like the Mosaic code.  We treat them like red Thai crabs.

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Called a king crab for some reason unknown to us.  New in 2005.

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Each was shipped separately.  When put together they mixed it up instantly.

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Their brownish/orange coloration helps them blend into nearly any background color.

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This guy arrived DOA -- much easier to handle in this condition.

King Crabs are a new crab to us (2005).  They pinch.  They stay small.  They argue/fight with each other.  They eat whatever you give them -- just like nearly every other crab.  They are drabber than most crabs and not as economical as most crabs..

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At under an inch, this red Thai crab manages to blend into the mostly white gravel

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Female (small pincers) on left.  Male (large pincers) on right.

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"Gentlemen, start your engines."

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Or just go nuts.

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Red Thais like to hide.

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Red Thai crab.  Mean and pinchy.  Likes to hide even more than most crabs.  Pretty.

Red Thai Crab.  You probably suspect where these little inch and a halfers come from.  They can easily snag your fishes.  They will snag you also.  Handle them carefully.  Pretty pincers.

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Same Thai crab showing the tiny bristles covering his legs.

Last Words.  As you can see, the freshwater crustaceans offer a wide array of interesting critters – something for every “taste.”  Some are tastier than others.  Try some soon.  But be careful -- many crustaceans like to eat fish and vice versa.  They also eat each other.  LA.

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