Vampire Crabs ( Grapsoidea )

 

  Who are they?

 The scienceticfic name for the vampire crabs is Grapsoidea. However, Vampire crabs is just one of the breeds belongings to the Grapsoidea species.

Location ?

 The one and only place in this whole world whereby vampire crabs can be found is only in sulawasi island indonesia and none other.

Price ?

 The Price of a vampire crab in USD is between 15-40 US dollars depending on where you buy it from. 

However that is the price if you are buying them outside Asia continent. If it is within the continent of Asia and to be more specific in South East Asia region, the price per crab is far much cheaper than in the west. 

Myself, i bought mine in a retail shop from a neighbourhood area at $6 per crab in Singapore dollars. (around 4.8 USD per crab) I have bought 5 of them. 2 males and 3 females.

 The convertsion rate of Singapore and USA dollars is actually very close to each other 1 USD = 1.2 SGD & 1SGD = 0.80USD. That is the current conversation as for now. It is around a difference of 20 cents only.

General Information of Vampire Crabs

 

In a way you can perhaps say that this vampire crabs breed is rare. First of all it is not in anyplace that can be easily found and secondly it is not a common breed that people have as pet. Thirdly, very little information can be found about them even on the internet. Not even wikipedia has information about them as at present.

This crabs itself is very small in size. It is about half of the size of your thumb only. ( Lenght , Breadth and Height) They are carnivores so feeding them with fish as food will be good enough. Once a day will be sufficient.

You really don't need to change the water everyday for them. Around a week once will be good enough or if you want to make it more frequent then around every 3 days once. What's important is that you must have a very wet sponge in the tank.

Just like other breeds and specifies of crabs, i did gradually discover the common thing about these vampire crabs, which is that crabs are born fighters. Especially and particulally the males. Male crabs loves to fight the most and they are pretty violent and ferocious when they fight.

There is is no mercy ! Weakness cannot be tolerated when they fight. Female crabs on the other hand also do fight but the chances of them fighting with their own gender or opposite gender is not high unlike the males.

 These vampire crabs like shade and darkness very much based on my personal observation of them. They are perhaps genernally more active during the night than day. It also appears to me that they have big reactions as they pannick easily.

General Crab Guidelines

The below will be some informations of crabs as on a general guidelines & hopefully it interests you.

Q : Can Crabs feel pain?
A : Yes

Q : Can Crabs see?
A : Bad Vision, they sense light and shadow movements

Q : Can Crabs Swim?
A : It depends on the specifies and breed

Q : Can Crabs Scream?
A : NO

Q : Can Crabs breathe both in underwater & out of water?
A : Yes

Q : Can Crabs Hear?
A : Yes! But unlike us humans. It is more on vibrations for them

Q: Can Crabs Smell?
A : Rumoured to be so

Q : Can crabs smoke cigarettes?
A : Don't be Silly

Matting of Crabs

 

When mating is of concern, it is done usually during warmmer weather. The male crab will perform a dance or ritual to the female and awaits for the female to respond to his wave of his claws. Should the females wave her claws back at the male it means she is ok to mate with him.

 Males will always look for females who are matured enough sexually.

When they are ready to mate, they will get into poisition with the male above the female. The female will be in a position whereby her beneath faces the male. This position is commonly known as double.

They will both remain in this position until the shell of the female is soft enough to mate. Depending on the specifies and breed, some can remain in this position for up to a week.

Once the female is ready to be mated, she will expose 2 holes which is triangular in shape in her abdomen and male will insert into it. Depending of the individuals of the crabs, once mating is ready to be done , the whole stage of the mating process can take up to 5 hours.

When the eggs are produced, they are carried underneath the female crab all the way until they are ready to be hatch.

How they got their name?

Has it ever make you curious on why are vampire crabs called as vampire crabs? I do suppose I know why base on my own assumptions of a few fact findings.

First of it is that vampire crabs have a vampire symbol on their shell at the same spot exactly in common.

   

 

Second would the color of the crab, itself which is purple.

While in Asian Continent and for the Asian people the Royal color in common is Yellow, it is purple on the hand for the Europeans.

 

Purple is the color only for the royals and those who are permited to wear in the west. Typically, in the west, vampires are associated with the aristocrats, royals, imperials and nobles, culturally.

Coincidently again, this vampire crabs who process the symbol of the vampire on their shell are also purple in color as well. Perhaps due to too much of a coinsidence, they are hence named has vampire crabs.

However, despite so do rest assure that these crabs do not suck or drink blood.

Meanning of Purple

 

Just perhaps if you are curios enough, the following information will be on what is meanning of the color of purple. Purple is :

1) Color of good judgement
2) Color of seeking spiritual fulfilment
3) Color of purpose
4) Color to represent the day of Thursday
5) An ideal color to use in meditation
6) A royal color in the west
7) Associated with the month of February
8) Associated with Crown Chakra
9) Associated with Imagination and inspiration
10) Reprsentation of Pride in Christianity
11) Represents the Plannet Jupiter
12) Symbolize magic , mystery and purification
13) Symbol and Representation of Gay's Pride


Usage of Purple

 

Put some violet in your life when you want:

• to use your imagination to its fullest
•  to re-balance your life
•  to remove obstacles 
• to calm over-activity or
•  to energize from depression 
• Deep or bright purples suggest riches. 
• Lighter purples are more romantic and delicate.

The Nature and Culture of Purple:

•  To Boots the imagination of a child and creativity of an artist, a purple room will be most ideal.
•  Purple is colour widows wear to Mourn for her husband's death in Thailand
•  purple was the favourite color of Egypt's Cleopatra. 
•  The Purple Heart is a U.S. Military award given to soldiers wounded in battle. As it represents courage 
• In Tibet, amethyst is considered to be sacred to Buddha and rosaries are often fashioned from it.
•  In Japan, the colour purple signifies wealth and position.
•  In pysanky, the traditional Ukrainian form of egg dying, purple speaks of fasting, faith, patience, and trust.
•  Purple denotes virtue and faith in Egypt.
•  In Tudor Britain, violet was the colour of mourning, as well as the color of religious fervour. 
• Traditionally, in Iran, purple is a colour of what is to come. A sun or moon that looks purple during an eclipse is an omen of bloodshed within the year.