Gouldian

Hey Ray, I stay in Punggol. YES, I desperately need pics. I have taken several shots using my mobile phone camera but could not get anything good. I really hope some good samaritans will be able to pop by before World Cup starts to take some decent shots. Btw, I did not subscribe thus cannot offer World Cup party.

Hi Lemon, Thanks for the info, I agree that looking at the underside is 1 way of telling the sex of crabs but not sure whether it is the case with Neoliomera pubescens as I was not able to see as significant difference to their underside (maybe due to its small size). Anyway, I found another link with some detailed images of the blue crabs copulating. http://www.bluecrab.info/mating.html Going through the above link, I realized that my strawberry crabs have been going into copulatory embrace several times. Initially I thought that it is the larger one bullying the smaller crab so I use a tong to break them up. However, last night it happens again and this time instead of breaking them up, I observe that both crab have initiated the acts. The larger (presumed male) will start by waving its claws and moving towards the smaller (presumed female) crab. The female will responds by have similar movement and upon claws contact the female will roll over to its back with the abdomen facing upwards. The male will climb on top of the female with both abdomen meeting each other. There were not abrupt motion from but crab and the female did not display any form of struggles. In fact, both crabs were gentle with each other with their claws moving periodically. During this time, I can see a something small coming out of the male's abdomen which I presumed is it gonopods. The embrace last for several hours, as I checked on them during commercial breaks while watching TV. They were in their embrace even when I retire for the night. This morning when I checked, I saw the male sitting in one corner of the bed smoking his cigarette while the female is making breakfast. GOT YOU! This morning when I checked, both crab have broken from embrace and were at both corner of the tiny tank. Both fed when I sprinkle food into their tank. I added some iodine in case the female need it for its moult which I have never witness in both strawberry crabs. I have seen empty shells in sally light foot crab indicating that they do moult but I have never seen strawberry crab's shell. I hope that with this set up, I will be able to witness more information about its moults rituals.

Thanks for the photos Weisheng!

The Mating Dance For most crabs, mating season occurs during warmer weather, and if the crab makes its home in the ocean, the waters need to be a warm temperature as well. Other times during the year, crabs remain dormant or spend their time harboring eggs and releasing young that were created during mating season. When this time arrives, male crabs must find a female crab that has matured sexually and attract her. They do this by performing what equates to an elaborate mating dance. Usually, the male crab will rise onto the tips of his legs and move from side to side in front of the female. At the same time he will wave his claws in the air to attract her. This dance is not only done to grab the female's attention, it is also the time when the male sends out pheromones from glands under his claws into the air. These chemicals sexually attract females and get them ready for the mating ritual. The male will continue to do this until he finds a female who is ready and willing to mate. Copulation A female will respond and let a male know that she is ready to mate by following suit and waving her claws in the air as well. A female is ready to mate when she is in the molting stage, which is the only time when her shell will be soft enough for mating. The interested female will turn around and back in towards the male, who then cradles the female underneath him with his legs. They will remain in this position, which goes by different names, depending on the crab, but is often called a doubler. The crabs remain this way until the female's shell is soft enough for mating to begin. In some species of crabs, this can last up to 1 week. After Conception When she is ready to mate, the female will expose two triangle-shaped holes in her abdomen called gonopores. The male will then insert slender gonopods, which look like antennae, into the gonopores and transfer sperm this way. Once again, the time it takes for this stage of the mating process to complete depends on the crab, but averages around 5 hours. The female stores the sperm in special areas of her abdomen. They can be stored here indefinitely to create multiple egg sacs throughout the crab's life. When eggs are produced, they are carried underneath the female until they are ready to hatch, and when they do they are released in large groups whose numbers depend on the species of crab. Source: http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4565603_crabs-mate.html I am not sure whether I have experienced it but I will report my observations as and when I gather more information.

Hi bro, Superglue or any cyanoacrylate based adhesive will do. But there are also hobby-centered brands that can be found in LFS. However, do note that epoxy are not suitable for adhering mushrooms. Epoxy needs time to cure and thus are used to stick LR rather than mushrooms that will move about.

Thanks for sharing bro, 1 up for you. Actually, 1 of my idea is to try to keep them as in a species pico tank with tonga branch and weak lighting. I hope this will not spook them too much and provide better opportunity to observe them further.

Thanks Bino for clarifying. Btw, care to share your observations?

Yup, I suspect THIS may be happening but not sure, still need more observations and advices from experts. FuEl, let me know if you have more info, may need your help to ask around in MOFIB.

Bro, through my observation they are not able to swim, if not, the larger one would have swam out of the open top of the small tank. The both crabs still periodically try to stretch and climb out of the glass tank but due to the smoothness of the surface, they were not able to do so. Through my observations, I notice that they are able to stretch very far in order to reach some spots that they are unable to reach.

Bro, Can you remember how much they are selling? I could not remember liao.

I believe so too, my previous perceptions of inverts not having the "higher" intelligence of mammals is no longer valid. In fact, some humans will not even notice when their partner is missing! Anyway, I am still not sure about whether I am having a mated pair. In fact, I still do not know whether what I had are different sex. Thus, I hope that with this thread, I will be able to get help and also to share what I have found out about this species. So bro, poomoon is that crab still in your tank? Care to share more about yours?

Ah Siang, you are close. Actually the small tank is inside my display near the LRs where the crabs used to hide. Anyway, on Saturday, I saw the other inside the small tank as well! In order for the smaller one to go into the smaller tank, it needs to climb into the open surface of my LRS (i have never witness them doing before), stretched itself towards the edge of the small tank and fall through the height of the tank which is estimated around 15cm! But why does the smaller crab wanted to do that? There were not abundance of food in the smaller than to tempt it in. In fact, there are more food around the LR than in the small glass tank housing a larger specie. Hmmm, it intrigues me and I continue to observe and report what I saw. In the meantime, anyone with CAMERA????? I need some decent shots of them. Dun ask me to take, photography is not my cup of tea.

Sorry about it bro, story too long and have to break into parts. Anyway, I have bought the Strawberry Crab from CF cannot remember how much exactly but I think its around a blue note. I am unsure whether there are any LFS that carries them besides CF (never seen before) After I have release them into the tank, they remain hidden and occasionally will comes out to move around but will swiftly hide amongst the rocks whenever I approach the tank or a fish swims pass them deliberately. As my intention is to get a pair, we selected 2 that shows greater differences. 1 of them which is larger is more pink than red and the other smaller 1 is more vibrant red. I have never seen them together as I only manages to seen 1 coming out at any given time. As I intend to clear my display tank to do some major works, I have been wanting to slowly removes the livestocks in the tank. However, I have been taking a "SLOW" approach due to my schedules and others issues which I do not have answers. 3 weeks ago, at around 6.30am while the room is still dark, I woke up for my run and found 1 of them coming out on the sand-bed away from the rock works. I took a net and was able to catch the larger one. As my other smaller tank (1ft) is now housing my pair of black clowns and a peppermint hog, I decides to release the crab into a small 13cm glass tank (used to keep bettas) and place it in the display tank knowing that it is impossible for the crab to climb out of the glass tank smooth surfaces. During this time, I was able to better observe the crab. I tried stuffing some seaweed and small pellets into a empty astea shell and lowered it into the glass tank for the crab. I notice the crab ate most of it although due to its lack of speed some of the seaweed floated and was immediately eaten my my yellow tang. My yellow tang even swim into the glass tangs to snatch whatever food that the crab could not consume in time. 1.5 week ago, the more cryptic smaller crab began appearing more often in the open area where the larger crab is trap. But this guys is more cautious and I have never been able to reach my tank before it disappearing into the rock-works not to mention catching it. Most of the time, when I witness this is during night time thus I assume that they are more nocturnal and I also notice the smaller crab is not just out to feed back "may be" communicating with the larger crab. So I continue to feed the tank and also making conscious efforts to ensure some pellets will fall into the glass tank where the larger crab is. On Saturday 12/06/2010, I woke up and routine went to my tank and was surprised when I look into my display tank .... Part 3 on the way.

Hi Bros, I wish to share my experience on Hawaiian Stawberry Crab which I have bought last year. Herewith are some info about them: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+501+1907&pcatid=1907 - Notice Liveaquaria ID it as Liomera sp. http://anythingsaltwater.com/strawberry-crab-p-923.html - Claimed to be rare http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_crab - Pix does not justify the actual specimen http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=crabs_of_japan&id=1214 - Species info http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=152263&st=40 - Started with a guy claiming that its is not reef-safe but subsequently denounce by the seniors in Nano Reef http://www.thepetscentral.com/fish/fish-aquarium/adding-strawberry-crab-to-fish-aquarium/ - Pets Central advices on the species. However, I find the part of keeping in Fresh Water dubious http://www.google.com.sg/search?q=strawberry+crab&hl=en&sa=G&prmd=iv&source=univ&tbs=vid:1&tbo=u&ei=PaQVTL_BNdS9rAfP-oiKCA&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=13&ved=0CFgQqwQwDA - Videos of them, do view the ones from Hangseanshi. http://glassbox-design.com/2010/new-strawberry-crab-discovered-in-taiwan/ - Unconfirmed new species found in Taiwan Anyway, the reason why I wanted to share was due to an interesting event that happened recently. I will post more when I have time.

I have 6100, let me know if you keen.

Paiseh bro, cuz I read the article before thus remembered its an Atlantic Blue Tang... Anyway if CFOH is free, we can all meet for kopi!

Good, I love kopi, PM me for details.

Think it should be the larvae of the Atlantic Blue Tang.... Any prize????

Upz for your sale. Pseudocorynactis is a coral that is not well studied especially in the west due to its high price. In fact, you will find conflicting recommendations towards their aggressiveness and also their lighting needs: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2002/invert.htm http://www.liveaquaria.com/DIVERSDEN/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+4&ddid=78155 http://www.reefhotspot.com/store/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=pseudocorynactis Speaking with Nitro, who have been keeping them for more than 2 years, I learned that they are not as aggressive as claimed by some and also its demands for lighting and flow is low. I am a proud owner of 1, all thanks to Nitro and I hope that maybe 1 day we will have someone publishing more complete and correct information on this unique misunderstood specie.

A TRAVELLER was reunited with a camera he had lost in the Caribbean after a sea turtle swam all the way to Florida, US, with it. The camera's strap caught on the reptile's shell after Dutchman Dick de Bruin dropped it in the sea during a trip to Aruba last November, De Telegraaf reported. In its efforts to free itself, the turtle accidentally switched the waterproof device on and filmed part of its 1100 mile (1770 kilometre) journey. The camera washed up six months later in Key West, Fla., where it was spotted by Paul Shultz, an investigator with the US Coast Guard. Shultz charged up the battery and found a series of photos capturing various Aruban landmarks. He posted the footage on YouTube along with a brief note about its contents in a bid to trace its owner. Source: http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/lost-camera-hitches-1770km-ride-on-sea-turtles-back/story-e6frfq80-1225877746510 http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/blogs/watch-a-movie-made-by-a-sea-turtle http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3906

Good to hear that. Let me know if you need my assistance.

Hermit are opportunistic scavengers, their job is to clean up any unwanted or decaying matters. How long have you have your star? If it is also quite recent, it could be due to the fact that the star is not able to acclimate into your tank thereby may have necrosis in it's limbs and causing the hermit to feed on them.

OMG! How have you been? Still in NEC? Didn't know you are into marine!

Your cousin???

The Hagen Marina is readily available. I bought mine from Pet Mart and I know Iwarna and Reborn carry them as well.