Banded Clinging Crab care guide
Banded Clinging Crab (Mithraculus cinctimanus) — minimum tank 60 L, temperature 24-26 °C, pH 8.1-8.4.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Banded Clinging Crab (Mithraculus cinctimanus) is a marine clinging (emerald) crab of the family Mithracidae, listed in the Aquairi knowledge base as a beginner-level species. Caribbean spider-crab with banded legs. Often associates with anemones in the wild. Algae and detritus eater.
Taxonomy
- Family: Mithracidae
- Genus: Mithraculus
- Scientific name: Mithraculus cinctimanus
- Common synonyms: Anemone Crab
Habitat
Mithraculus clinging crabs (family Mithracidae) are small, flat-bodied majoid crabs of the tropical western Atlantic and Caribbean reefs. They shelter in rockwork by day and graze algae and detritus, and some species associate with anemones. In the Aquairi knowledge base this species is recorded from Caribbean.
Tank requirements
- Minimum tank volume: 60 L (15.9 US gal)
- Adult size: 2-4 cm
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- GH: 8-12 °dGH
- KH: 8-12 °dKH
- Salinity (specific gravity): 1.024-1.026
- Lifespan: 2-4 years
Diet
The species is an omnivore, grazing algae, biofilm and detritus across the rockwork and substrate; in aquaria its diet is supplemented with dried algae and sinking foods when natural growth is scarce.
Compatibility
The Aquairi knowledge base lists this species as peaceful. Suitable tank mates include Reef fish, Anemones. It should be kept away from Very small fish.
Breeding
Breeding requires an extended planktonic larval stage in open water before the young settle, which makes captive reproduction very difficult and rarely accomplished in home aquaria. Most specimens in the hobby are wild-collected.
Breeding the Banded Clinging Crab (Mithraculus cinctimanus)
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.