Lifestyle

Newly Discovered Vampire Crabs Look Like Something Out Of Pokémon (Photos)

by Robert Anthony
Chris Lukhapu/National Geographic

If you ever happened to run into a crab with bright yellow eyes and a purple outer shell, this probably means you just discovered a new type of crab -- the vampire crab.

According to Bustle, these vibrant crustaceans were recently discovered in Indonesia, where they live in river valleys.

Thanks to their unique coloring and small size, people are starting to keep them as pets. I mean, if you're going to have a pet crab at home, at least have a cool-looking one, right?!

The two new species of crab discovered within the island of Java in Indonesia are called Geosesarma dennerle and Geosesarma hagen.

You can thank professional aquarist Christian Lukhaup for discovering these.

Once he came across these colorful creatures, he reached out to researchers in the aquarium industry to learn more about them. That's when he discovered they originate from the island of Java.

In a recent interview with the National Geographic, Lukhaup revealed,

These crabs are kind of special because they've been around in the pet trade for 10 years, but no one knew where they come from.

If you're looking for a new, obscure pet, you might want to figure out how you can get a vampire crab in your fish tank at home. These colorful little beings seem to be the pet trend at the moment.

Check out the photos below for a closer look!

At first sight, you might think it looks like a toy crab crawling around on the sandy beach.

But it's actually a vampire crab.

The two new species of crab that were discovered are named Geosesarma dennerle and Geosesarma hagen.

You can thank professional aquarist Christian Lukhaup for discovering these.

Lukhaup, who is coincidentally from Dracula's home town of Transylvania, decided to call them vampire crabs, thanks to their yellow, glowing eyes.

People are starting to collect the crustaceans as they come across them.

It's not every day you find a pair of crabs with vibrant outer shells and bright eyes like these!

The dennerle has a purple outer shell, and the hagen features an orange color. Both species grow to be about an inch wide.

Citations: Spooky Vampire Crabs Discovered in Indonesia, Because Regular Crustaceans Werenu2019t Creepy Enough (Bustle)