Heh. All the way from Nicaragua -- that's one tough little crab (especially since I would have expected it to dry out en route).
I'm sure that someone here is going to tell me that it's wrong to keep her
Not really, given the situation. Your only other options would be surrendering it to a zoo/aquarium/rescue organization, and euthanasia. Anyone who would tell you to release it would be in the wrong because it's not equipped to survive in this climate, and might be harboring any manner of exotic diseases that it could pass on to native wildlife. Introducing non-native species into the wild is always a very bad idea. I doubt your local authorities would be too concerned about a single accidentally imported crab, provided it's not an endangered/protected species to begin with. I thought it looked very much like the crabs I've seen in Peru and Ecuador, and it turns out that it is the same species. Very pretty colouring.
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dancing_serpent
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Date: 2009-08-25 11:56 pm (UTC)I'm sure that someone here is going to tell me that it's wrong to keep her
Not really, given the situation. Your only other options would be surrendering it to a zoo/aquarium/rescue organization, and euthanasia. Anyone who would tell you to release it would be in the wrong because it's not equipped to survive in this climate, and might be harboring any manner of exotic diseases that it could pass on to native wildlife. Introducing non-native species into the wild is always a very bad idea. I doubt your local authorities would be too concerned about a single accidentally imported crab, provided it's not an endangered/protected species to begin with. I thought it looked very much like the crabs I've seen in Peru and Ecuador, and it turns out that it is the same species. Very pretty colouring.