At first glance, the Red Round Crab has the appearance of being cooked to delicious perfection. Furthermore, it also goes by a similarly tasty sounding monikers “Strawberry Crab” and “Red Stone Crab.” The bright rosy red is a telltale sign your crustacean is ready to eat. However, in this instance, such a mistake could be a fatal one! These crabs carry a toxin in their flesh called saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin, if that second one sounds familiar, it's probably because you've heard it mentioned before while learning about pufferfish! Neoliomera insularis is the scientific name of this critter, and while perfectly safe to handle, and even get pinched by it, it is quite toxic to eat. Repeat do not eat this crab, raw or cooked. If you happen to slip and fall, and accidentally consume a Red Round Crab, you're probably dead, there is no antidote for this blend of toxins. Luckily, this isn't a food blog, and most of you are here to learn about cool stuff for your aquarium and the Red Round Crab fits this description perfectly.
Neoliomera insularis are grazers and they'll do some detritus clean up but are primarily opportunistic carnivores. We've seen them eat Asterina Stars, and so they could potentially be utilized as control for them. They will also pick at different alga, even some bubble algae, but this is secondary food for them; they will require some meaty sustenance. Here we've been feeding them a meaty mix of food that is appropriately sized for their diminutive size. Things like Gamma Food's Mysis, Brine Plus Omega-3, Krill, and Prawn (finely chopped) are great choices, and you'll probably have to target feed these little crabs in order to get enough food to them before it gets stolen by faster fish and other, less shy inverts. While we offer them daily feedings, adults could be fed every other day. Click here to learn more
Neoliomera insularis are grazers and they'll do some detritus clean up but are primarily opportunistic carnivores. We've seen them eat Asterina Stars, and so they could potentially be utilized as control for them. They will also pick at different alga, even some bubble algae, but this is secondary food for them; they will require some meaty sustenance. Here we've been feeding them a meaty mix of food that is appropriately sized for their diminutive size. Things like Gamma Food's Mysis, Brine Plus Omega-3, Krill, and Prawn (finely chopped) are great choices, and you'll probably have to target feed these little crabs in order to get enough food to them before it gets stolen by faster fish and other, less shy inverts. While we offer them daily feedings, adults could be fed every other day. Click here to learn more
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