HCA: Hermit Crab Association

A while back there was a thread about Aussie crabs and the line of thought that their access to salt water needs to be restricting in captivity or they gouge on it.

There was some discussion of what their natural conditions were in relation to how near they live to the salt water.

There has been some information circulating about them from one of the hermit crab wholesalers who maintains that they live inland and that they only need access to salt every few weeks. I have a suspicion that the latter stemmed from either the wholesaler being too lazy to provide the right conditions and seeking to justify it (he doesn't look after his crabs correctly in the least) or trying to make hermit crabs appear lower maintenance than they really are, which he does with every aspect of their care (he use to say they never pooped!!!)

Wodesorel (misspelled that awful but I fixeded it ) said something the prompted me to go looking for info on the other wholesalers/harvesters and I came across a Department of Fisheries article outlining the collection of hermit crabs, impact on the environment etc.

It states the following: "Coenobita variabilis is distributed across northern Australia, from Exmouth Gulf to northern Queensland
(Jones and Morgan 1994). Individuals occur in the intertidal zone and up to 100 m from the shoreline.
They are common in mangroves, but also occur in sandy and rocky areas."

100m is about 320 ft, which is a pretty average span of sand on a beach here.

Here is the link -quoted text is from pg 42

http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/docs/esd/esd008/esd0008.pdf

(The bit about the mangroves makes me wonder if they'd like some mangrove mud but man o man that stuff smells so bad...)

Do you think that disproves the salt water myth, then? Even though I don't have Aussies, I am interested in finding out whether the myth is true or false.

I don't believe that their salt water access needs to be restricted. (I most certainly do however respect the choices of other crabbers in this regard)

We don't know a massive amount about their biology and I don't see the need to restrict their access in captivity to something they have free access to in their natural habitat. That was on reason I found that article interesting, because it indicates that salt water is found within their natural habitat and that it's not a great distance away from them.

Also, I'm yet so see my Aussies gouge on their salt water. Generally they meander through it and the only time I've seen them seemingly seek it out is when I bought a new one home the other day. He found the pond, his antennas went nuts and he climbed in for a brief amount of time - but he didn't have access to salt water at the pet shop and he'd been there at least a week.

And, as of yet I haven't heard of any first hand accounts of Aussies gouging.

So....um...sorry - that was kinda long winded. Short answer - I don't think this disproves it in itself, but it's an important thing to consider along with other evidence.

My lack of knowledge of geography of other continents is epic, so I have to ask - what is that area of Australia like?

No problem, I don't believe in it either, mostly because there's no magical hand in the wild that takes the ocean away for a week. But yes, everyone's entitled to their own way of taking care of their crabs. If they thrive alright with restricted salt water access, then it isn't a big deal.

You found some interesting information. I kinda get the feeling that the harvesting of Aussies is fairly new?

wodesorel wrote:My lack of knowledge of geography of other continents is epic, so I have to ask - what is that area of Australia like?

I'll be right back with some pictures, but it varies from beautiful sandy beaches, to rocky shores, to the most hideously smelly and disgusting mangrove swamps you've ever seen.

wodesorel wrote:My lack of knowledge of geography of other continents is epic, so I have to ask - what is that area of Australia like?

I understand, though I have never been, that it has many different biomes ranging from the desert like interior ( called the Outback ) to tropical coasts ( with mangrove forests ) bordering the country, and thick, temperate forests in its southern most areas near where the island of Tasmania is and even a bit further, Antartica. Am I close?

These pictures are all of Karumba in Queensland - an area where Aussies apparently live in quite large numbers

About half way down this page it says they found them in 'supra tidally' regions (does that mean above the high tide area?) in large numbers and the tabled information included indicates they were found in creeks and rivers. As far as I'm aware, the banks of creeks and rivers in that area are lined with mangrove swamps. Lots of easy to climb trees, mud and rotten stuff

http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/13542.html

Wow! So pretty! Looks almost like the area of the States that I live in,though I live about 3 hours from the ocean.

Is that warning sign for jellyfish?

TheCrabbyTabby wrote:Wow! So pretty! Looks almost like the area of the States that I live in,though I live about 3 hours from the ocean.

Is that warning sign for jellyfish?

No...crocodiles

Personally I think I'd prefer the jellyfish

Hmmmm...

A blindingly painful and most likely lethal jellyfish sting over being torn limb from limb by salties ( saltwater crocs )? Sounds good to me!

I am glad you brought this up. I totally agree with you in regards to how this bizarre information about limiting access to the salt water began. He also states on his website that they need shallow substrate, absolutely shameful!

I do not limit my crabs intake to salt and they have been perfectly healthy (I have had them since the beginning of March.) The lady who taught me had hers for years and managed to keep zoea (hatchlings) alive for three weeks. She had never heard of this practice. I guess it won't harm them to restrict thier access but I wonder if they will live as long as they are being prevented from naturally managing thier salt intake. I like to try and provide as natural environment as possible and try to interfere as little as possible too.

cheers Jennie

Hmm this has been a highly debated topic but Im going to go with my education & instincts here.
Hermit crabs regulate the salinity in their shells naturally all around the globe by having constant access to salt and fresh water, why would our crabs be any different?
I give constant access to salt water and have not once seen a crab gorge on/in it, in the wild they have both so that's what I provide.
what exactly does an Aussie gorging on salt water look like Is it like when tnt4eva said she got a new one home from the pet shop and it went into it and it behaved all excited like it had been deprived of it for a while (exactly like it had).
maybe the act of restricting the salt water intake is what started the whole debacle/myth I mean how would you react when something you needed to survive was taken away for a while then returned momentarily? like food....or water.
Perhaps the gorging is the crabs natural instinct to survive, how long would it live without salt water if it was an important part of its biology, its instinct would be to find salt water!
I hope i managed to say it all so that you can understand how i interpret it without offending anyone

so I came home with 3 new Aussies
at the shop they were on 1/2 inch gravel substrate that was clearly damp and the glass was misting, freshwater (I asked)in a dish, 1 tiny cuttlefish and commercial pellets, the assistant said they were there for their second week as they sell very quickly and they were expecting another shipment in a few days, she couldn't tell me anything about them as she didn't know.
when I got them home I gave them a real good check over and they are in very good condition, no missing limbs etc...3 girls Yay!!
2 went straight to the salt water pool and hung in there for about 5 mins....
I have not seen any one in there since but in the morning there's always sand in the bottom of both pools so crabs are definitely taking midnight dips.