White claw Towuti crab

Care at a glance

Overview

Unlike most freshwater crabs, this Sulawesi species is fully aquatic and lives its whole life underwater, though it appreciates a perch near the surface. Keep it singly, or give a lot of cover and space if you try more than one, since it is territorial and can be rough with its own kind, especially at molting time. It is a slow-moving hunter, so treat tankmates with caution: it will catch and eat sluggish fish, shrimp, and snails. Provide sand or gravel, caves and rockwork for hiding, and a tightly sealed lid. Feed sinking pellets, vegetables, and protein such as bloodworm. A tank of around 75 liters suits one.

In the wild

The white claw Towuti crab comes from Lake Towuti and its neighbours in the ancient Malili lake system on Sulawesi, Indonesia, where the water is warm, hard, and alkaline. Those conditions are not optional: keep it hot at 26 to 30 C with a high pH of 7.5 to 8.5 and hard, mineral-rich water. Give it a stable, clean tank with sand, rock, and caves, and a secure cover, as even an aquatic crab will test the lid.

Good to know

Syntripsa flavichela belongs to Parathelphusidae, the Asian freshwater crabs, and spans up to about 8 centimeters across the legs. It is one of the few fully aquatic freshwater crabs in the hobby, deep purple in the body with pale, cream-colored claws. Breeding is hard: like other Sulawesi crabs it produces few young and is slow to raise, which makes captive breeding well worth attempting.

Did you know

Most freshwater crabs have to leave the water to breathe and breed, but the crabs of Sulawesi's Malili lakes gave that up and stay submerged for life. This one never needs to come ashore.

Common questions

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