In 　a news article from about a year ago, we introduced the new giant rock crabs that have been added to the "Ogasawara Sea 2" tank in the "Tokyo Sea" area of Tokyo Sea Life Park. Initially, two giant rock crabs were on display, but that was reduced to one, and then on April 1st of this year (2015), another one was added.


Left: Individual that arrived one year ago Right: Newly arrived individual
In our last news report, we talked about how the giant rock crabs, which had successfully completed a cohabitation trial with the blenny, were being trained to hand-feed the blenny larger pieces of food to prevent them from stealing the blenny's food. This time, we'll give you an update on how the giant rock crabs are doing now, after a year of training.

At first, simply bringing a stick with bait attached close to the giant rock crab would cause it to flee in an instant. Crabs are naturally very wary creatures, and they will quickly hide if they sense danger. Nevertheless, I patiently brought the stick closer every day to get it used to me, and gradually taught the giant rock crab that the stick was not dangerous, and that "when the stick extends" meant "when it's time to get food."

As a result, they now approach the stick on their own when they see it, and I can feed them smoothly.

Currently, the giant rock crabs are fed during opening hours. With visitors watching, if you hold a stick up so that the food is about 1-2 centimeters to the side of the giant rock crab, the next moment the crab will swiftly run towards the food and grab it in an instant.

The giant rock crab, which had been motionless like a statue until then, suddenly started moving very quickly, surprising everyone who was watching, who exclaimed, "I can't believe it can move that fast!"

We feed them every day. The feeding times are irregular, but if it's feeding time in the "Ogasawara Sea 2" tank, please stop by and watch the giant rock crabs' sharp movements. Another giant rock crab will soon begin training to receive food. If you see a giant rock crab running away from the stick, it's the newcomer, so please watch over it kindly.

[Tokyo Sea Life Park]

(April 10, 2015)