# Fresh water crab (Holthuisana sp)



## hornet (Jan 27, 2011)

Got 3 Freshwater crabs today including this large female. First time owning Holthuisana sp but i have to say i'm hooked, they are am awesome looking crab and by far my fave out of the 5 or so species i have kept in the past. Will have to email pics into the museum for a more precise ID on this species. One i get a few more i will have a crack at captive breeding


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## Snakeluvver2 (Jan 27, 2011)

Where did you get that bud?


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## gillsy (Jan 27, 2011)

I'm going to see if I can get a hold of some down here, 

I want to try them in with my Keelies.


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## richoman_3 (Jan 27, 2011)

very nice john 
got a caresheet on caring for them? or even setup pics.
always wanted to keep them.
do still keep those ones with mudskippers?


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## chewbacca (Jan 27, 2011)

I'd actually be more afraid of gettin tagged by one of them buggers compared to a snake  do you play with them? Lol


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## Snakeluvver2 (Jan 27, 2011)

> I'm going to see if I can get a hold of some down here,
> 
> I want to try them in with my Keelies.



That would be awesome!


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## hornet (Jan 27, 2011)

richoman_3 said:


> very nice john
> got a caresheet on caring for them? or even setup pics.
> always wanted to keep them.
> do still keep those ones with mudskippers?


 
pm me your email and i will send you a good care sheet on them. I still have 1 crab with a mudskipper, has moulted once since i got it, big boy now and looking very pretty but always hiding in his log



natexx said:


> I'd actually be more afraid of gettin tagged by one of them buggers compared to a snake  do you play with them? Lol


 
I handled all 3 on arrival with no harm done to me lol. They have very narrow claws so wont be as bad as some other species


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## Snakeluvver2 (Jan 27, 2011)

Send that PM this way too, John!


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## dihsmaj (Jan 27, 2011)

hornet said:


> pm me your email and i will send you a good care sheet on them. I still have 1 crab with a mudskipper, has moulted once since i got it, big boy now and looking very pretty but always hiding in his log
> 
> 
> 
> I handled all 3 on arrival with no harm done to me lol. They have very narrow claws so wont be as bad as some other species


 
Extremely nice crabs. Look awesome.
By the way, you can keep Mudskippers in Aus?
They're exotic, aren't they?


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## hornet (Jan 27, 2011)

nope we have a number of australian native species, i have kept 2, 1 was very very delicate and died within a day of being collected, the other very very easy, i still have 1 specimen left many months after being collected (the crabs seem to have a taste for mud skipper)


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## gillsy (Jan 27, 2011)

Plimpy said:


> Extremely nice crabs. Look awesome.
> By the way, you can keep Mudskippers in Aus?
> They're exotic, aren't they?


 
There are native Mud Skippers, but either way have you walked into an aquarium store... none of those are native.

Our freshwater fish are some of the most boring in the world, it sucks.


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## hornet (Jan 27, 2011)

gillsy said:


> There are native Mud Skippers, but either way have you walked into an aquarium store... none of those are native.
> 
> Our freshwater fish are some of the most boring in the world, it sucks.



whats with that? We have just such little diversity compared to most other places


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## gillsy (Jan 27, 2011)

I'm not sure scientifically however I have a few personal opinions...

* Our waters are very seasonal, dry one moment flooding the next
* Our waters have very low oxygen content, meaning less biodiversity.
* Majority of our waters are cold, when you look at where most of the tropical fish come from they're around the equator. Also alot of our creeks and rivers have very bare vegetation rates, or are euculypts etc which are generally unedible.

* Our waters have very high turbidity, which generally mean that colours of a fish don't matter. Colours are majority of the time used for breeding, what's the point of having colours if the water is so dirty you can't see anything.


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## hornet (Jan 27, 2011)

this is the large female after putting her in water and washing off the sphagnum


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## dihsmaj (Jan 27, 2011)

Whoa, she looks awesome!
They eat darkling larvae?


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## hornet (Jan 27, 2011)

Plimpy said:


> Whoa, she looks awesome!
> They eat darkling larvae?


 
they will eat almost anything so i'm giving it a try

Well i have received word back from the museum on the id of these crabs, the are Austrothelphusa transversa (Holthuisana is the outdated genus name). The large female is currently having a feed on a large earthworm 

Also seem to like crayfish pellets. Will do up a short basic care sheet in a week or so.


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## bigfella77 (Feb 22, 2011)

gillsy said:


> There are native Mud Skippers, but either way have you walked into an aquarium store... none of those are native.
> 
> Our freshwater fish are some of the most boring in the world, it sucks.



What about the big bad bass, is one cool mutha......


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## PhilK (Feb 22, 2011)

I kept 10 or 12 of these (or similair) recently. Dead easy to look after and good fun, but a little boring I found.

Nice looking crabs John, and sorry I haven't gotten those hermies to you yet - soon I promise.


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## gillsy (Feb 23, 2011)

Nah still boring!  

And now NSW has put another couple of dozen fish on the noxious list there wont be many left.

What temps do you keep them at, I have my keels set at 28/29 wondering if that is too warm.


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