Two New Species Of Vampire Crabs Discovered
 |
| photo credit: Chris Lukhaup from P. K. L. Ng et al., 2015 |
Despite their slightly terrifying names, two very interesting little vampire crabs have recently been discovered in Java, Indonesia, and the scientific community is very excited about it. No, they don’t sparkle…
Although the two crabs look different, they are both from the same genus, Geosesarma, which have been sold all over Asia and Europe. A research group lead by Peter Ng of National University of Singapore found the crabs along a couple of hillstreams a mile or so away from each other.
The team named named the little purple-clawed one Geosesarma dennerle and the little orange-clawed one Geosesarma hagen.
The Geosesarma dennerle are about 14 millimeters wide, and in addition to their beautifully bright purple claws (called chelae), they also have violet to purplish-brown coloration on their walking legs and on the front of their upper shell (or carapace). They live under and between rocks among vegetation on the slopes of a small valley, eating grasshoppers, larvae, and plant detritus. They’re named after the German company Dennerle, which supported the work.
The Geosesarma hagen feeds on insects living on the ground in the dense bottom vegetation. The adults are about 13 millimeters wide, and they have bright reddish-orange chelae and similarly glowing yellow eyes. The rest of the body is mostly dark brown, though the extent of the bright orange on their backs varies a lot, with some crabs being almost completely orange. These were found along trickles of water on a banana and rubber plantation on the side of a small hill. They were named after the Rolf C. Hagen Group of Companies, a major pet supplies company in Germany that supported the work.
Both crabs are completely terrestrial, which likely explains their coloration. Christoph Schubart of Regensburg University, and co-author of the study told National Geographic that with terrestrial crabs “visual communication becomes much more important. There’s much more emphasis on color and visual cues rather than chemical cues, as used in the water.”
This discovery of two new species of crab was probably hindered for years by animals dealers. “Dealers working in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world know what their clients are looking for in terms of colors,” Schubart says. “They start collecting in areas where scientists may not have made any expeditions so far, and suddenly the market is formed with some animals that no one has ever given a name.” Christian Lukhaup, a professional aquarist, adds: “There were a lot of false rumors because people don’t want other collectors to go there.”
No matter how you feel about vampires, crabs, or even vampire crabs, you ahve to admit that anytime a new species is discovered, it’s pretty interesting.
Post a Comment