Breeding the Banded Clinging Crab (Mithraculus cinctimanus)
Mithraculus cinctimanus is a small Caribbean clinging crab that lives commensally with anemones. Females carry eggs that hatch into planktonic zoea larvae, so it is not bred in home reef tanks.
Overview
Mithraculus cinctimanus Stimpson, 1860, the banded clinging crab, is a small Caribbean spider crab (carapace to about 22 mm) from Florida, the West Indies, Curacao, Colombia and Venezuela. It feeds on filamentous green algae and typically lives commensally with a sea anemone such as Stichodactyla helianthus, or in deeper water Lebrunia danae; juveniles often shelter on the mushroom coral Ricordea florida.
Sexing
Sex is determined by the abdominal flap on the underside: males have a narrow abdomen, females a broad rounded one for brooding eggs. An egg-carrying female holds a spongy clutch beneath this abdomen, but external coloration does not differ between the sexes.
Spawning & Larvae
The female carries fertilized eggs under her abdomen until they hatch into planktonic zoea larvae. As in related Mithraculus, development passes through zoeal stages and a megalopa in the plankton before the crab settles; the drifting larvae feed in the water column and require open-water plankton to survive.
Common Challenges
- Planktonic zoeae are captured by skimmers, filters and pump intakes in a closed tank.
- Larvae need live planktonic food and stable conditions a display cannot provide.
- The crab's commensal link to specific anemones complicates keeping breeding-condition adults.
- Dedicated larval and megalopa rearing equipment is required and is impractical at home.