HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello, my spouse (mongorille) and I went on a crab-hunt on our day off to look for crabs other than PPs or straws. We hit like every petstore in the wilkesbarre/scranton area PA (post on the horrors and joys we found shortly).

We came to one pet store that said they had "calico tree crabs from india" (apparently that's what their distributor called them) and some other kind that weren't as active (PPs---they were delighted to find out that they are active, but are nocturnal). We bought three tiny ones. We were impressed that the shop owners new that more than one species existed---and that she had them even though she didn't know many differences. w We then later in the day bought a medium E and two teeny Es (owner had no clue about anything).

The teeny Es looked like the "calico tree crabs," but not quite. Later in the day after looking at many pictures and ID specs we found some answers. We now are pretty sure that 5 are Es (definitely the larger one). Smaller Es are darker in color apparently (like smaller PPs are lighter in color). Also, we found our difficulty in identifying the crabs was that one of these "calico tree crabs" is a ruggie. It is in a different shell than its tank mates (which were in characteristic E shells), it walks differently, and most importantly it has black spots on its eye stalks. We are pretty sure that it is a ruggie. We are thrilled, however, we feel bad that we didn't buy it a buddy of its own species ( Though it seems to find the teeny Es it was and is with good company. We probably will spend the $20 in gas and 2 hrs each way to check the store again tonight---i will call and see if they would look at the crabs for me (giving them specific things to look at) and maybe hold some.

the question: what are "calico tree crabs from india?" I am pretty sure they aren't Es as i don't think there are any E's in india. Could they be ruggies? Are they something completely different and the distributor didn't just make an identification mistake (all of them are the same size and color and very small so difference are subtle)but completely has no clue what it is doing?

If you could post pics I'm sure I could help you identify them quickly.

hmmm...calico crabs. by the name alone I would suspect they meant PPs, simply because calico cats are those with three colors or more, and PPs are more likely than other crab species to have multiple colors (in my experience).

I also have a lone ruggie in my tank, i hope to find him a friend tomorow. congrats on your new finds, and i look forward to seeing pics!

Caroline

megcb wrote:We came to one pet store that said they had "calico tree crabs from india" (apparently that's what their distributor called them) and some other kind that weren't as active (PPs---they were delighted to find out that they are active, but are nocturnal).

Crab Street Journal lists a Calico Crab but doesn't show a pic or a "proper" name. Google was dumbfounded.

I would very much like to see pictures.

I have read in a few hermit crab groups that the calicos are the Australian crazy crabs. Not sure how accurate that is, but check out some pics of them and see if they look like your guys

Angela

here are pictures:

first, one that we think is a big e (from a different shop):





next, the one we bought at the same shop as above---we are thinking its a little e:





the "calico tree crab from india" from the other shop that we think is a ruggie (note the black eye spots and striped claw and antannae color):





another supposed "calico tree crab from india" that we aren't sure if its an e or a ruggie or something else (are there spots under the eye?):





as you can see many of our new babies (still yet unnamed ) are teeny weeny. Though the small ruggie gets along well w/ the other crabs. The big e and the pp's just kinda push each other out of the way and then ignore each other.We went back to both shops--bought two more "tree crabs" of same size from the latter and another e (slightly smaller, but big enough to be a buddy). We now have 5 "calico tree crabs from india" from one store, 2 bigger E's and 2 littler E's(unless they also are the calico tree crabs) from that other store. To add to our 9 PPs and 2 straws.

Your ID is correct, all are Es except for the Ruggie. Great job for a new crabber, it took me forever with the Es and Ruggies . *runs away with large E while no one is looking*

Yup, I'd say you are right on all your guesses. The last one looks like an E to me. S/he's missing those black eye marks.

Congrats on your new finds!

very cute "calico crabs." I especially love the ruggies' coloring.

Caroline

Very cute E's and ruggies! I second MomToDixie's vote that the last one is an E. She/He also doesn't have the double plated shield leg or the reddish antannae and has got E shaped eyestalks.

Adorable crabs!