2 O.Mercatoris

Joined
Oct 1, 2009
Messages
1,375
My mercs just arrived. Just what size should these guys be? One of them is bigger than I expected. Mantle is about 1 1/2" arms (hard to extimate) look to be about 2 1/2- 3". The smaller of the 2 is balled up, can't really judge size yet but 1/2 the size.
 
Here is the larger of the two, it is very active, the smaller is still balled up.

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The crabs I received... I am still observing them, not sure if I am happy. They are a mix of decorator, emerald and 1 HUGE monster. Several are damaged, missing claws/legs. 1 is missing all his legs on one side. The big, scarey one, it's carapace is 2" wide and big pointy claws, do I need to worry about it hurting Ollie? Several decorators have decided to hide in Ollies den. I saw his arm push them out but they are too scared or too stupid to move. We'll see how this goes.

big crab
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3 brittle stars and all peppermint shrimp are wonderfully active and seem very healthy. :smile:
 
For practical porposes (until my daughter decides) I will be calling the larger of the two #1 and the smaller #2. I have taken many photos, a fraction of which are clear enough to post, borrowed camera. I am grateful to my sister who lent it to me. First I will post photos of #1.

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#2

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#1 and #2

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The mantle size on the first one made me think female with eggs. The fact that she was actively running around makes me think post hatch female. In Trappers case (as with my other species of post hatch females), the mantle was not as firm looking though. More stretched out and wobbley. IME a healthy merc will turn dark red (not a sort-of-maybe dark but dark, dark) when released to the tank and will head for the LR. Spent animals seem to loose their ability to color more than other species and will come out during the day at the end of their lives.
 

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