Tiny little Agate: the domestically raised blueberry

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:58 pm

I know that some of you don't exactly believe all of Bob's (at ELHC) accomplishments, but i wanted to share the story of Agate, my teenie blueberry, who he raised completely, from the time he was a fertilized egg to taking up a shell. Tiny little Agate, as we like to call him, has the personality of a joker, a hilarious little guy who thinks he's the big man of the tank (even though there are many medium PPs).

There haven't been many crabbers able to raise crabs from eggs, simply because it requires a series of saltwater tanks to do so (in my understanding). I think Tammy at the Hermit Crab Patch has done so as well. My Lilith laid eggs once that hatched, but I could not raise them because i didnt have the proper set up.

here is tiny little Agate all shy when I first got him, you can see that he is 100% white and light orange:

and tiny little Agate now, you can see that he has picked up a blueberry's coloring (as well as increased in size):

Some pictures of him about the tank, in various stages of growing up with me. I have had him since November 2009, and he has had multiple molts and about doubled in size, as well as picking up the color most recently:

Caroline

Shivering Isles · Post by **Shivering Isles** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 5:35 pm

Wow! What a great accomplishment and a great experience. It would not have been the same without pictures.

EC

aquav · Post by **aquav** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:14 pm

Awesome!!! Thanks for posting!

KrisDutt · Post by **KrisDutt** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:15 pm

Thanks for posting

What a great story you have to share!

Spiral · Post by **Spiral** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:50 pm

Wow he looks just like mine! From an egg? really?

Hermitguy92 · Post by **Hermitguy92** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:58 pm

He is amazing. I love the coloring on him. That's so cool how he was raised from an egg. Good job! Happy Crabbing!

MudCrabDude · Post by **MudCrabDude** » Wed Jun 23, 2010 9:07 pm

Wow, from an egg?

Actually, it was pretty much do able from the perspective of some researchers and scientists with C. compressus (from already gravid, egg-bearing crabs I presume) and they were able to raise eggs into their various stages up until they became emerging crablets (I think they dissected them in various stages of development for study purposes). Difficult for most casual keepers, but do-able with the proper resources.

http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/ ... Harvey.pdf

Anyway, great job in raising the crablet, Caroline!

kgbenson · Post by **kgbenson** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 8:43 am

I spoke with Dr. Brodie, she feels that they are amongst the easiest of decapoda to raise. Granted compressus are one of those with an abbreviated larval stage and so develop quickly. Still her method is time consuming. What is needed is a method to mass rear them without having to do water changes in little tiny cups every day. If someone is likely to have done that, Bob at ELHC would be the one, he has the knowledge and he has essentially duplicated their natural environs.

If this animal represents crabs breeding in Bob's care - that is the big milestone. To my knowledge researchers have reared several species in the lab - but only after collecting females on the way to disperse the larvae into the ocean. If Bob got them to mate in captivity and raised the youngsters - that is a huge feat and the only report of that accomplishment to date. Pretty impressive.

And a nice job continuing to raise the little one there Annopia.

Keith

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:18 am

kgbenson wrote:I spoke with Dr. Brodie, she feels that they are amongst the easiest of decapoda to raise. Granted compressus are one of those with an abbreviated larval stage and so develop quickly. Still her method is time consuming. What is needed is a method to mass rear them without having to do water changes in little tiny cups every day. If someone is likely to have done that, Bob at ELHC would be the one, he has the knowledge and he has essentially duplicated their natural environs.

If this animal represents crabs breeding in Bob's care - that is the big milestone. To my knowledge researchers have reared several species in the lab - but only after collecting females on the way to disperse the larvae into the ocean. If Bob got them to mate in captivity and raised the youngsters - that is a huge feat and the only report of that accomplishment to date. Pretty impressive.

And a nice job continuing to raise the little one there Annopia.

i agree, its a huge feat. Bob got the eggs not from a gravid collected specimen, but from his own crabs mating. It's amazing, his crabs are mating all the time now (its their "season" i guess) and he said one of his big females carries 100,000 crabs. Bob is great, and i'm so thankful that he gave me tiny little Agate to raise.

Caroline

Keith

kgbenson · Post by **kgbenson** » Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:18 am

annopia wrote:Bob got the eggs not from a gravid collected specimen, but from his own crabs mating.

Definitely a feat. So much for folks saying it cannot be done!

Keith

Mokulele_Hawai'i · Post by **Mokulele_Hawai'i** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:58 pm

Wow ... congrats ... a cute new "U.S. citizen"

from Indonesian mom & dad ....

mr markie · Post by **mr markie** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 12:16 pm

Wow, thats amazing, I wish I could see Bob's facility...it would be a great experience

Kilimanjaro · Post by **Kilimanjaro** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:18 pm

Great story and great-looking crab.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 3:27 pm

Thats incredible!!I am fascinated this can be accomplished!!

SaPen · Post by **SaPen** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 7:59 am

Wow, that's amazing, thanks for sharing and good job raising this little guy! Is there any sort of documentation on the conditions of the breeding tank and rearing tank? I would be interested in knowing what sort of substrate, temp, humidity, size tank, plants, etc. were in the tank when they bred.