What Do You Feed a Mud Crab?

What Do You Feed a Mud Crab?. Mud crabs are like the little garbage disposals of the ocean. If the opportunity arises to eat, they will feast on the closest source of food. The crabs have two differently sized claws to help them grab the food source. The large claw crushes the food and kills the prey while the smaller claw cuts it up so the crab can consume it.

Small Crustaceans

Given the chance, mud crabs will attach and ingest smaller crustaceans for food. Species such as fiddler crabs and oysters are on the menu for the mud crab as long as it can subdue and eat them. The mud crabs also turn on their own kind and practice cannibalism when the need arises. The larger claw of the mud crab allows it to clamp onto the victim and break through the tough shells of its crustacean prey.

Fish

Occasionally, a small fish is unlucky enough to swim close to a mud crab. The mud crab lashes out with its claws and secures the fish with the larger claw. The smaller claw starts snipping apart the prey into bite sized pieces ideal of ingestion. The crab will ignore most large fish and instead attack something more suited to its size. A fish that is too large to subdue can easily knock the crab off balance and swim away before it can do much damage.

Plants

Plant life is an important part of a mud crab diet. In the wild, the crab will travel along the shorelines and eat plants it finds growing in rocky areas. While plant life doesn’t require the hunting prowess of other specimens on the mud crab’s menu, its claws still come in handy for harvesting. The mud crab uses its smaller pincher to snip off properly sized scraps of marine plants. In captivity, mud crabs can subsist on vegetables or rice.

Waste

Mud crabs aren’t fussy in their food sources. Some crab farmers actually supply manure as a food source. While animal manure isn’t an ideal food source for the crabs, it does give them the sustenance they need to survive until a better food source arrives. If you use this method to sustain your mud crabs, supplement the manure with meat sources to help the crabs gain weight. Low-grade animal meat is an acceptable addition to the mud crab’s diet.

References

• Northern Territory Government; The Life Cycle of the Mud Crab; M. Phelan, et al.
• Queensland Government; Mud Crabs; John Dexter; April 2009
• Sydney Fish Market: Crabs
• University of Rhode Island: Black-Fingered Mud Crab (Panopeus herbstii)