Hi, now that I'm on my desktop I can elaborate more.
E's are sold in some pet shops in the U.S. Straws and violas have been found in some as well, with the petshops sometimes misidentifying the violas as blueberries. (Blues are almost impossible to find in the U.S. now)
This is just my personal opinion, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt.
( How I got started crabbing: My mom called me on her way back from Galveston two years ago to tell me that she was bringing my son 2 hermit crabs. I immediately went online and researched. I was not prepared for the amount of care they required.)
I've been on this forum for almost two years now, I am by no means an expert. Many, many crabbers have been doing this for a lot longer than I have. When you purchase or adopt crabs, many times they don't survive their first molt. This could be due to injury, stress, inadequate conditions, what we call PPS (Post Purchase Syndrome), unknown disease vectors that affect crustaceans, parasites (you cannot see gill mites on the outside of the crab, I don't think, but recent necropsy photos have shown them in the gill tissue), etc.
In the last two years we've adopted over 50 PP's (between my former roommate and myself) and at least half of them have died. We've had great setups, multiple tanks, awesome food and all the other "right" things. We asked for advice from seasoned crabbers and read through multiple threads on this page going back a number of years.
I've seen a lot of people turn down PP's that need good homes because they want "exotic" species. Which, to be fair, they're all pretty exotic since none of them are native to the U.S., with the exception of PP's that can be found in the southernmost parts of Florida. That's totally their prerogative. Straws, violas, blues, indos, rugs are all lovely and amazing and it would be awesome to have some.
I don't know of anyone who has had straws that have lived over 7 years maximum in captivity. I've heard horror stories of the UTH failing or the humidity being off for less than 48 hours and all their straws dying because of this.
I'm still learning and researching all the time and become very passionate about these little guys. So many people see them as a throwaway pet. The majority of people don't even know that they are harvested from the wild, which effects the ecosytem and marine life in those areas.
Please know that when I caution people against rushing into looking for exotics, shipping crabs, or adding other creatures into their habitats, it is only because I have the crabs best interests at heart. It's not to be offensive or intentionally abrasive or bossy. It's because I've had my friend hug me while I sobbed over multiple crab deaths or that I've spent 20 or more hours in one week trying to locate homes for crabs that no one seems to want (or be able to care for).
I believe that most people have the best intentions at heart and want to take good care of them. I wish there was more education about them and am personally trying to find ways to do so.
I'm going to get off my crabby soapbox now. I just wanted people to kind of understand where I was coming from and didn't want you to think that I was just like "No! Don't get exotics you n00b!" Also note that this post isn't directed specifically at any one person, it just happens to be a response in your thread. I am sure that you are going to be a fantastic crabber
You are doing the right thing by researching first and I very much respect anyone who does their research before purchasing or adopting a pet.
Like @Callalilly said, don't just take our word for it or advice, research and look at other groups and use common sense. Try to find scholarly articles/peer reviewed journals and look at their native habitats for an idea of how to care for them properly.