Do you have a pet VAMPIRE crab? Researchers find two creepy crustaceans sold as pets are actually new species Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3001024/Do-pet-VAMPIRE-crab-Researchers-two-creepy-crustaceans-sold-pets-actually-neW

Despite their creepy claws and bright yellow eyes, vampire crabs are increasingly popular pets. Now, experts have discovered two new species of the spooky crustaceans - Geosesarma dennerle and Geosesarma hagen - have been lurking in home aquariums for years. They traced the freshwater crabs' origins back to their wild source - finding that they live in rivers on the island of Java, Indonesia. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3001024/Do-pet-VAMPIRE-crab-Researchers-two-creepy-crustaceans-sold-pets-actually-new-G. dennerle is purple in colour with a cream patch on its back, while G. hagen has a bright orange shell and claws which stand out against the rest of its dark body, according to the study published in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. WHAT ARE VAMPIRE CRABS Vampire crabs are so-called because of their spooky yellow eyes, which are the same colour as fictional vampires' who drink the blood of animals/ Before being identified as new species, the two types of crabs were known to have originally come from somewhere in Southeast Asia. A site selling vampire crabs says they thrive in aquariums with rocks to climb on and like to sit on Java moss. Females dig down into sand to have their offspring and both sexes are more active in warmer water - typically between 21°C and 27°C (70°F and 80°F). They are apparently easy to care for and are quite sociable, getting along well with one another and seldom fight. The crabs grow up to one inch wide (3cm) and live for up to three years. Christoph Schubart, co-author of the study from Resenburg University, Germany, said dealers look for bright specimens in areas which may not have been explored by scientists. 'Suddenly the market is formed with some animals that no one has ever given a name,' he said. Lukhaup, who is from Transylvania, the fabled home of Dracula, used contacts in the aquarium trade to find out where dealers were getting the colourful crabs from and after several false leads, found they come from central Java. He suspects there are more vampire crab species to be uncovered on Indonesia's islands, because the crabs tend to stay put, meaning different species could exist in different places. However, while this may be exciting for scientists, there are concerns that wild populations could dwindle if too many crabs are collected for pets. They sell for around $25 (£17) each. It's hoped that commercial breeding could prevent this problem. The crabs are amphibious, which Lukhaup thinks may explain why they are brightly coloured- because visual cues are important for communicating on land, while chemical cues reign supreme underwater. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3001024/Do-pet-VAMPIRE-crab-Researchers-two-creepy-crustaceans-sold-pets-actually-new-species.html#ixzz3V1zyMoBn