Vampire Crab
Geosesarma sp.
Sesarmidae
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About
"Vampire crab" is a trade name, not a species, and this entry does not pretend otherwise. Wikipedia records it as such: Geosesarma is a genus of small land crabs and 'in the pet trade, they are called vampire crabs. This has nothing to do with their feeding habits, but rather with the bright, contrastingly yellow eyes of some Geosesarma species' — of which the article now lists fifty-nine. For a decade nobody selling them knew what they were. Peter Ng of the National University of Singapore, who has named twenty of the genus himself, told Live Science that 'people in the aquarium trade have known of the two crab species described in the report for at least a decade' but that 'crab dealers have pointed to a number of possible places of origin for the crabs, from Java to Krakatoa, Borneo, Sulawesi and even New Guinea. But all of those sites were suspicious.' It took a German carcinologist, Christian Lukhaup, working backwards through dealers to the collectors themselves, to place them on Java, and only then could the two commonest trade forms be described in 2015 as Geosesarma dennerle — the purple one with cream markings — and Geosesarma hagen, the orange 'red devil'. Ng's own comment on that is worth quoting: 'For a species to be formally and properly described and named, its provenance should be known. Of course, it is perfectly legal to name a species without knowing where it comes from, but that would be bad science and irresponsible.' Since the trade still ships colourful Geosesarma under one label, a bag marked "vampire crab" may be either described species or something not yet named, so this page carries the genus and no binomial. What all of them share is the important part: they are tiny land crabs that live in leaf litter beside forest streams, breed without a marine larval stage, and belong in a paludarium rather than in a fish tank. Even their size is a small reminder that the label covers more than one animal: Shrimp and Snail Breeder measures the traded crabs at 1.5–2.5 cm across the shell and about 5 cm across the legs, while Wikipedia describes the genus as 'typically less than 10 mm across the carapace'. The figures in this entry follow the animals actually sold.
Care
The single most useful thing to know is that this is a land animal that needs water rather than a water animal that tolerates land. Shrimp and Snail Breeder puts it as plainly as it can be put: 'Vampire crabs cannot stay in water for a long time. They will drown. It is crucial to provide a variety of surfaces for them to get out of the water.' Both care sources ask for a land-to-water ratio around 80:20, with the water no more than a shallow, clean, filtered pool a crab can walk out of. Build a planted paludarium: deep moist substrate they can dig into, cork bark and leaf litter, moss, and humidity of 75% or more. Keep the air and water at 24–28 °C, the pH slightly alkaline at 7.5–8.0, and the hardness moderate; Fishkeeping World notes 'the water itself is warm and slightly alkaline, with little water movement', and Shrimp and Snail Breeder warns that 'if the pH is too low they become very lethargic'. A tight-fitting lid is not optional — 'these crabs are great escape artists'. On companions Fishkeeping World is specific: 'other species of crab or small fish are at risk of being attacked or eaten', while 'large snails and most shrimp should pair up well' with injury 'rare'; it suggests small shoaling fish such as neon tetras, zebra danios, cherry barbs and guppies precisely because 'they can get away if they need to'. Keep them in a group. They are social with each other, fighting is rare, and Fishkeeping World keeps 'about six' in a 10-gallon (40 litre) paludarium; Shrimp and Snail Breeder will run one male and two females in half that, but a 40-litre footprint is the honest floor once you are keeping a colony, and it is the number this entry gates on. They do not need tankmates and are better without them: the same guide warns of losses if you add fish or shrimp, and says small snails should not be kept with them at all. Live plants are safe — 'they do not eat healthy plants and can, therefore, be kept in beautifully planted' setups, and Fishkeeping World agrees they eat 'only detritus (dead plant matter)' — which makes a heavily planted paludarium both the right look and the right husbandry. Breeding happens on its own if the crabs are happy, and it is the nicest thing about them: large eggs, no larval stage, and, as Shrimp and Snail Breeder describes it, females 'give birth to live, fully formed miniatures of the adult Vampire crab' 1–2 mm long that stay with her for weeks. Adults do sometimes eat the babies, so cover and dense moss matter. They live about two years.
Diet
Land-feeding omnivore and scavenger. Live insects — crickets, springtails, mealworms — plus dried shrimp or fish flake, pellets, fresh and dried vegetables and dry leaves. It eats dead plant matter, not living plants. Offer calcium for molting and put the food on land, not in the water.
Tankmate compatibility
Gets along with (159)
Possible with care (201)
Avoid (58)
Computed by the AquaSage engine for a spacious reference tank — always check the full verdict for your exact setup in the calculator.
Telling males from females
There is no reliable way to sex this species by eye. That is the honest answer, not a gap in our data.
All the methods, with diagramsAlso in these lists
Similar species
Same category and the closest water parameters — if this species isn't quite it, start here.
Sold in Lithuania
These Lithuanian shops listed this species in their public catalogue (checked August 8, 2026). Stock moves — ask before you travel.
These links are unpaid: we get nothing for them and ask for nothing.
Frequently asked questions
- What tank size does a Vampire Crab need?
- A Vampire Crab needs an aquarium of at least 40 litres (10.6 US gallons) with a footprint at least 50 cm (19.7 in) long — for this species, swimming length matters as much as raw volume.
- What water parameters does a Vampire Crab need?
- Vampire Crab does best at 22–30 °C (71.6–86 °F), pH 7–8.5 and a general hardness of 4–16 °dGH.
- What group size does a Vampire Crab need?
- Vampire Crab is a social species — keep a group of at least 3 so natural behaviour emerges and stress stays low.
- Is the Vampire Crab suitable for beginners?
- Vampire Crab sits in the middle of the difficulty scale — manageable for a careful beginner who has done the reading, but it has specific needs worth researching first.