Zoodiver
04-26-2006, 5:38 PM
These shots have never been seen by the public prior to this.
At the time, everyone keeping Japanese Spider Crabs in captivity was in a closely knit group. Not much was known as far as basic husbandry for them. They are the worlds largest invert - reaching reported tip to tip measurements of over 14 feet. They are cold water and live relativly deep in the Western Pacific. Males and females are sexually dimorphic, but only by looking at the plastron. The females have a much wider plastron than do the males. This is for holding eggs. At the time (three years ago) most keepers noted a 100% death rate after molting. These guys literally pull themselves out of their hard exoskelton backwards, resulting in a bright pink VERY soft version of themselves, yet slightly larger. I helped figure out the trick was to leave the molted shell in with them. They feed off of it to restore calcium levels.
I was also the first to witness and document captive breeding of this species. The male would display for the female, then copulate in dance-like fashion. The eggs numbered in the thousands, and the females kept them tucked neatly away in the plaston. She would open and close the flap to circulate water over them. Sadly, while carrying the eggs, my female died. I removed her plastron and eggs and set them up in an artifical chamber to simulate the females natural motions. We lost all the eggs due to an electrical failure one night. After I left that institution, they lost the entire collection of crabs and have since renovated the exhibit.
Here are some shots of the breeding and of the plastron up close so you can see the sheer number of eggs she held.
At the time, everyone keeping Japanese Spider Crabs in captivity was in a closely knit group. Not much was known as far as basic husbandry for them. They are the worlds largest invert - reaching reported tip to tip measurements of over 14 feet. They are cold water and live relativly deep in the Western Pacific. Males and females are sexually dimorphic, but only by looking at the plastron. The females have a much wider plastron than do the males. This is for holding eggs. At the time (three years ago) most keepers noted a 100% death rate after molting. These guys literally pull themselves out of their hard exoskelton backwards, resulting in a bright pink VERY soft version of themselves, yet slightly larger. I helped figure out the trick was to leave the molted shell in with them. They feed off of it to restore calcium levels.
I was also the first to witness and document captive breeding of this species. The male would display for the female, then copulate in dance-like fashion. The eggs numbered in the thousands, and the females kept them tucked neatly away in the plaston. She would open and close the flap to circulate water over them. Sadly, while carrying the eggs, my female died. I removed her plastron and eggs and set them up in an artifical chamber to simulate the females natural motions. We lost all the eggs due to an electrical failure one night. After I left that institution, they lost the entire collection of crabs and have since renovated the exhibit.
Here are some shots of the breeding and of the plastron up close so you can see the sheer number of eggs she held.