A ‘new’ unidentified crab is making news headlines for its fruity looks. Dubbed by the media as the Strawberry crab, this undescribed species was found by marine biologists from the National Taiwan Ocean University off the southern coast of Taiwan. It is similar in appearance to Neoliomera pubescens, which aquarists also call the Strawberry crab, except [...]
A ‘new’ unidentified crab is making news headlines for its fruity looks. Dubbed by the media as the Strawberry crab, this undescribed species was found by marine biologists from the National Taiwan Ocean University off the southern coast of Taiwan. It is similar in appearance to Neoliomera pubescens, which aquarists also call the Strawberry crab, except that the carapace of this new crab is larger at nearly 1″ in width. Two females of this suspected new species were collected, but past away soon after.
We are hesitant to use the word new, as it appears some scientists have seen this crab before. The Florida Museum of Natural History has documented a similar looking Neoliomera species from Guam. What do you think, same crab or wishful thinking?
Neoliomera crabs are occasionally kept in reef aquariums, and depending on the range of this new species, it may find its way into the trade like N. pubescens.
