Pea Crab lives inside the shells of bivalves and many other mollusks, in worm tubes, and inside echinoderms, sharing their host's food. The tail of the crab is different from other decapods (such as shrimp, lobsters, and crayfish), as it is curled underneath, and the carapace is usually broad. The first pair of thoracic legs is specialized as chelipeds. It usually moves by walking or crawling.
1. Water Mold Disease
When the crab is found to have long "white hair" on its body, the disease progresses, the affected muscles rot, the appetite decreases, and ultimately death occurs. This disease can occur at any time of the year.
Treatment method: A. Soak the diseased crab in 3% saline water once a day for 5-10 minutes each time.
2. Black Spots Disease
The crab grows "black spots", which are gray-white in color. The fungal hyphae attach and adhere to the cell tissue of the wound, causing tissue necrosis. At the same time, the diseased crab's appetite decreases and eventually dies.
Treatment: Put a small amount of salt in the aquarium with new crabs to inhibit the occurrence of water mold. Pay attention to cleaning and disinfection when adding live bait. Keep the water clean to isolate the growth of water mold. Generally, this disease can be prevented.
3. Fungus
Symptoms: White fluffy material adheres tightly to the crab shell surface and cannot be washed off. It spreads and covers the entire crab back.
Treatment: Apply tannic acid ointment or chloramphenicol ointment to the crab shell, keep it dry for 1 hour, then wash it and put it in water. Pay attention to temperature difference once a day.
Cause: Bacteria in the water.
Prevention: Keep the water clean.
Water alkali and fungus have essential differences. Water alkali is caused by excessive alkaline substances in the water. It is attached to the crab's body due to long-term living in the water, and it does not affect the health of the crab, only the aesthetics. You can use vinegar to brush it. If it can be brushed off, it is water alkali. If it cannot be brushed off, it may be fungus or water mold.
The diet of crabs is diverse. They eat both plants and animals, and they particularly enjoy consuming fish, shrimp, snails, worms, earthworms, insects, and their larvae. They also feed on injured or freshly molted members of their own species. In times of hunger, egg-bearing crabs may even consume their own eggs as food. In their natural environment, freshwater crabs primarily have access to aquatic plants, so their diet is predominantly herbivorous.
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