Pom Pom crab w/ eggs

[Sinistard]

I was feeding my tank and my pom pom came out to get its fair share and low and behold she (guessing due to the eggs;) ) had a big bundle of eggs tucked below. Here are a few pictures I managed to get, 2 are with a flash and 2 without. The 2 with look a bit yellow.

 

Click on the picture for a bigger version

 

I like the last one with the anemone in focus.

 

 

 

 

[jasmine]

What great pics:)

[drg0nzo1]

my pom pom crab had a red thing like that, i figured it was eggs. But they turned a yellow color eventually and she died =(

[Michael Roth]

Very cool. My crab came sans anemones, and I am curious as to how they know to pick em up...I wonder if mine would scoop a couple given the chance.

[bubba]

Wow, those are great pictures. Awesome crab

[Sinistard]

Thanks everyone.

 

You can see more on this little girl here http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...20&pagenumber=1

 

Michael Roth -- If you could find the right kind of anemones I'm sure your pom pom would pick them up. As you can see from my link above my pom pom had a rough go at it when I first got her. After she dropped the one anemone she picked it back up at one point only to lose it again. I figured she would be stuck with just one but some how, I'm guessing she pulled a piece off the one she had, she ended up with 2.

[bobioden]

WOW, excellent pics.

 

Bob

 

[theliquidzoo]

what camera are oyu using for those pictures?

they look great!

 

looking forward to when my tank is ready, i'll be getting me one of those critters.

[Six]

Mine holds eggs all the time too.

Great pic, Sin. My photography skills arent quite as good.

[reefer21]

I was just wondering, but then again

I don't want to sound stupid.

Are crabs asexual or something?

[Sinistard]

Thanks everyone. I use a sony DSC-F707 5mp camera.

 

I think pom poms must be asexual because one night I saw my pom pom releasing its eggs and they were all hatched, I could see 2 eyes a tail moving around. My fish and corals loved it, A late night snack. Around a week later the pom pom had eggs again. I only have the one pom pom there is no mating going on.

[barbadeau]

confine him in another tank and breed those crabbies

[neanderthalman]

My question is how to breed the anenomes.....will they share?

[mushroom head]

What kind of lighting do the anemones need or can they have different anemones???

[Caesar777]

That is too cool. Somebody should breed these guys--they're pretty expensive for a tiny little crab.

[Sinistard]

Originally posted by neanderthalman

My question is how to breed the anenomes.....will they share?

 

My pom pom lost one of its anemones and managed to turn the one it had left into two. I think it pulled a piece off the one it had left because the second one it had was very small and grew to the same size the original one was over around a months time.

 

That would be cool if they would share anemones with each other but I have not idea if they would. As far as lighting need for the anemones it must be low because the crab stays under the rocks all the time so they don't get much if any light. The crab does use the anemones to catch food so I'm sure they get food.

 

I would try to raise some crabs but would not even know where to start.

[mushroom head]

I might want one of the crabs if u can raise the:P

[Six]

Odd, I didn't think for a second that they were asexual, I'm pretty sure they aren't. there are so many small crustaceans withina tank, are you sure you watched the eggs hatch and an almost invisible animal pop out? I would inquire with Ron Shimek at RC to see what he thinks about it.

 

The anemones arent phototrophic. They need very small food stuffs.

 

My crab was only $12. Is that expensive? I would love to breed these guys, but yeah, you couldnt break even as far as funds go. thats why you never see easier fish, like damsels, tank reared. they are a dime a dozen and no on wants to pay for the tank rearing.

 

Hook me up with funding and I'd be happy to.

[Prunfarm]

LOL Six. Yeah, not asexual. Sounds like someone got lucky b4 going in the tank, or they were unfertilized.

[Sinistard]

It may not be asexual but I did see lots of critter swimming around that had hatched at the same time the pom pom released its eggs. I guess it could have been a hermit that released some eggs and it just happened to be at the same time as the pom pom. I did not see the eggs hatch or the pom pom physically releasing the eggs but I did see hundreds of tiny animals swimming around the tank and the next day the pom pom did not have the clutch of eggs under its belly.

 

The tiny critters were reddish had large black eyes and a tiny tail like thing and were swimming around. My fish were going nuts eating them and most of my corals managed to grab a few. I sucked a few out with a turkey baster and tried to get some pictures but they were too small to get a good close up.

 

I just assumed they were the pom poms because the next day its eggs were gone. Also I doubt it got lucky before it was put in the tank, I had it for around 2 months before it had any eggs and it has had eggs 2 times in the last month. They may have been unfertilized and it just happened to release them at the same time another critter in the tank did.

 

 

Here is the best picture I got of the hatchlings. For reference the square at the bottom of the glass is 1 inch.