Hermie size - relative to species

Gaby · Post by **Gaby** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 2:43 am

Hey everyone, I was just having this question rattling around in my head, so who better to ask than my hermie buddies here. I have a jumbo purple pincher, who isn't the biggest jumbo ever described here on LHC, but he could easily fit in a shell with a 1&3/4" shell or even 2", unfortunately he has latched on to a 1&1/2" black pica and he doesn't fit well in it at all. Anyway, my question is how big is a "jumbo" strawberry. Do they get as big as purple pinchers, or bigger? I am wondering about all species. I understand that equadorians don't grow to be as big as carribeans, but I am wondering about the other species, and if this means that they don't get as old. In other words, are they just a slower growing smaller crab (E's) or do they have a shorter life span in nature. Does anyone have a clue about this topic? My largest strawberry is in a shell that is almost 1&1/2" at the opening, and could probably fit in a little larger shell. Does anyone have/had a larger strawberry? Maybe everyone should just list the largest of each species they have had? I am very curious about this. Thanks for any help!

Post by **JediMasterThrash** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 10:09 am

Just from my own observations of the largest of each species I've seen, average sizes, and how fast they seem to grow from molting, I'd say:(roughly)Largest:PPStrawIndoMedium:E'sSmallest:RuggieCavipeThe largest crabs I've seen are PPs. But I've seen pictures of straws and indos that are just as large. And all the straws I see in petcos have an average size of large, compare to the usual medium or small for other species.PPs seem to grow the fastest. The little ones quickly quadrouple in size. I noticed the E's grow too, but not quite as fast. I haven't had enough straw, indo, or cavipe molts to tell. Ruggies don't seem to grow as fast.I've never seen a rugie larger than the "calico" E's. And cavipes seem to be even smaller.

Post by **JediMasterThrash** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:54 pm

I just read the Sue Fox book, and she claims that Indos are the largest species (up to 1/4 pound), while E's are the smallest (just an ounce).I wonder if she's taken into consideration the Calico E's. I swear they're bigger than any Ruggie or Cavipe I've seen.I think I could believe that Indos are the biggest. At least the heaviest (the claw must weight something!). I've never seen pictures really to scale, but judging from the thickness of the limbs it seems some of the Indo pictures I've seen could be quite massive.

moire_eel · Post by **moire_eel** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 1:38 pm

In _Biology of the Land Crab_, they list the weights of the largest specimen sizes found for each species. I am not sure where my copy is offhand, but as I recall, the order from largest to smallest was:IndoPPStrawCavRugEI'm least sure about my placement of the Cav on the list. Es are definitely smallest. I have a couple of Ruggies that are actually not all that small, but it seems rare to find those in pet stores for some reason, just as it seems to be hard to find small Straws.

kuplakrabs · Post by **kuplakrabs** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 3:35 am

Moire_eelGeek that I am, I just so happen to have my copy right in front of me LOL... so here ya go.Brevimanus (Brevys) 185gViolascens (Viols) 170g (est)Cavipes (Cavs) 160gClypeatus (PPs) 110gSpinosus (Spinners) 95g (est)Perlatus (Straws) 80gPurpureus (Blueberries) 75g (est)Rugosus (Ruggies) 67gVariabilis (Aussies) 50g (est)Compressus (Es) 38g I have a rather large Indo, that I catergorize as an XL and a fairly good sized Ruggie that I call a medium. I also have 3 mediumish Cavipes.In my tank here is the range from largest to smallestBrevimanusClypeatusThese two are very close in size and the PP with her shell is larger, but the body itself of the Brev is definitely larger.PerlatusCompressus (Calico E)These are golf-ball sizedRugosus CavipesThese are small to medium-larger than a ping pong ball but not as big as a golf ball.CompressusRugosusWith the exception of the Calico E, the other E's in my tank are smaller than a ping pong ball. And with the exception of my one larger Rug, the rest are around the same size as the E'sHere is a picture of a rather large Calico E that are available at my local pet store Edited to adjust for updated sizes suggested by Jedi Master Thrash

Post by **JediMasterThrash** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:42 pm

Hmm. Interesting considering that scaevola and rubescens aren't unique species.I definitely belived that cavipes could get up there in the scale. There's a recent thread on hca with some pictures of what looks like a very large black PP. I've seen a couple of these in the past few years before. I think I'm able to ID them as extremely large cavipes now.