The team have decided to adopt 2 crabs for the bio-mimetic project. The species of the crab is Cardisoma Armatum where the layman term is rainbow crab. This name is correctly given due to the vibrant colour of its appearance. The carapace is blue in colour while the claws are white and the legs are red. Crabs do not have bone and basically their support system is the shell and 8 legs. 2 claws are used for protection and picking up food. Cardisoma Armatum comes from coastal regions of western Africa and on islands such as Cape Verde.[1]
Habitat &
The habitat of the crab is fresh water and land. Therefore, when caring for it, fresh water is filled to half of the aquarium so that they will not fully submerge in the water and still be able to give them moisture. The food that is fed to them are frozen red worms. From research, they are naturally scavengers and are omnivorous where they consume a wide range of food such as plant matter, fish and anything else that they can find. Vegetables and fruit are also suitable for them such as cucumber, watermelon, apple, peas, lettuce, zucchini, pear, banana, grapes, tomato, boiled carrots, potato and cooked rice. [2]
Food: The habitat of the crab is fresh water and land. Therefore, when caring for it, fresh water is filled to half of the aquarium so that they will not fully submerge in the water and still be able to give them moisture. The food that is fed to them are frozen red worms. From research, they are naturally scavengers and are omnivorous where they consume a wide range of food such as plant matter, fish and anything else that they can find. Vegetables and fruit are also suitable for them such as cucumber, watermelon, apple, peas, lettuce, zucchini, pear, banana, grapes, tomato, boiled carrots, potato and cooked rice. [2]
Behaviour:
They are aggressive towards conspecifics and also any living being smaller in size. They are considered shy and like to sit motionlessly on some wood above the waterline or hide in holes for hours or even for days. It is also observed that they like to sit in "knee-deep" water where their eyes are above the waterline so that they can breathe easily. When crabs argue, they will try to tear off each other's arms and legs. As shown in the figure, one of the crab loses 1 of its legs. From research, it states that if the crab loses any parts, they are at a disadvantage when eating and fighting. It is advisable to separate the wounded one. However, the good news is that the crab has the ability to grow new parts at their next molt. It may take half a year for it to get back into fighting trim.[2]
They are aggressive towards conspecifics and also any living being smaller in size. They are considered shy and like to sit motionlessly on some wood above the waterline or hide in holes for hours or even for days. It is also observed that they like to sit in "knee-deep" water where their eyes are above the waterline so that they can breathe easily. When crabs argue, they will try to tear off each other's arms and legs. As shown in the figure, one of the crab loses 1 of its legs. From research, it states that if the crab loses any parts, they are at a disadvantage when eating and fighting. It is advisable to separate the wounded one. However, the good news is that the crab has the ability to grow new parts at their next molt. It may take half a year for it to get back into fighting trim.[2]
REFERENCES:
[1] “Cardisoma armatum” AbsoluteAstronomy, 2014, retrieved 10/4/2014 from http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Cardisoma_armatum
[2] “How to Care for Your New Patriot Crab”, Aqualand Factsheet, retrieved 12/4/2014 fromhttp://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bugs,%20Patriot%20Crab.htm
[1] “Cardisoma armatum” AbsoluteAstronomy, 2014, retrieved 10/4/2014 from http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Cardisoma_armatum
[2] “How to Care for Your New Patriot Crab”, Aqualand Factsheet, retrieved 12/4/2014 fromhttp://aqualandpetsplus.com/Bugs,%20Patriot%20Crab.htm