| It is rather very easy to distinguish the male crabs from female crabs. To identify, just hold the crab in hands & turn it onto its back. Pleon (abdomen) (pressed to thorax from underneath) in female crabs is broader than in male crabs. Crabs are agile & resourceful, they will try to pinch you on finger and undoubtedly, it will be successful (but the pain is quite tolerable).
Females possess broad abdomen not without a purpose. Female crabs breed eggs under the abdomen. When incubation period approaches to end, the female crab goes into sea & releases emerging larvae in salt sea water. Microscopic plankton larvae (zoaea) emerge from very small, but numerous (from 3000- 4000 pieces!) eggs. Eventually very small crabs are formed after 6-8 weeks, after multiple sheddings & having gone through some stages of development. These small crabs get over into coastal pools & mangrove thickets start leading lives like an adult crab.
Is it possible to understand the word “fresh-water crabs” in true sense? Of course, such crabs are known. They are also called “River crabs”. River crabs are found in rivers with hard alkaline water & completely out of touch with sea.
Several tropical kinds of fresh-water river crabs are available, which are found in tropical belt all around the world. Fresh-water river crabs are not encountered in zoo-trade; since it is very difficult to catch crabs in sufficient quantity for trading. Recently one interesting new crab has appeared. It’s trade name - Freshwater king crab. Suppliers from South East Asia also specify it’s scientific name – Parathelphusa sp. It is difficult to say to what extent it is correct. Outwardly, these small crabs with carapace diameter of about 3 - 4.5 cm are very similar to Indian River crabs of kind “Sartoriana”.
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