A woman has been busted smuggling 90 creepy vampire crabs through customs in China.
The unnamed woman, from Macau, was detained after customs at the Gongbei Port, in Zhuhai, China, found 90 crabs, primarily ‘Geosesarma dennerle’ crabs, better known as Vampire Crabs, in a shopping bag she was carrying, on 10th May.
Vampire crabs are small and colourful and come from India, Southeast Asia and other regions. They are given the name because of their often glowing eyes and preference for flesh.
Local media reported that there were a number of other species of crab in the shopping basket as well and that China strictly prohibits people from bringing such species into the country as they are considered invasive if they get into the local ecosystem.
The Gongbei Customs Technical Centre told local media that the batch of live crabs included animals from six different species of vampire crabs, namely banana vampire crab, white-handed ghost vampire crab, tomato vampire crab, purple vampire crab, rainbow vampire crab and orange vampire crab.
Vampire crabs, also known as demon crabs, are small crabs with bright body colours and a body length of no more than 3 centimetres and are said to make good pets.
Online commentators like ‘In The year star 0u’ said: “I don’t know what their intentions are. The 90 pieces should not just be bought for fun. We must conduct a thorough investigation.”
And user ‘Sunninger’ said: “Harmful.”
While the user ‘Try Out The New Keyboard’ said: “If you are caught bringing invasive species into the country, just let them eat them before letting them go.”
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below. Story By: Aloysius Fernandes, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: AsiaWire Report
The Ananova page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
