Can land crabs be part of the sustainable aquarium industry?

Director of Studies: Dr Lucy Turner  

2nd Supervisor: Dr Oliver Tills  

3rd Supervisor: Dr David Roberts, University of Kent

Applications are invited for a 3.5 years PhD studentship. The studentship will start on 1 October 2025 

Globally the tropical aquatic aquarium trade is a multi-million-dollar industry, which traditionally has comprised wild-caught individuals, although advances in captive-breeding technologies have started to change this. Land crabs are growing in popularity as aquarium/terrarium species with nearly all individuals traded wild-harvested. In recent years, a few species of anomuran crabs have been bred by hobbyists/small-scale breeders for trade through e-commerce. At the same time there have been major gains in our understanding of land crab physiology and development, and the potential for ecophysiology to inform the health of invertebrates in the tropical aquatic aquarium trade has been highlighted. This means that we now have the potential to culture healthier individuals of these species on a larger scale. This delivers the possibility that these increasingly sought-after, highly valued species will no longer need to be wild caught, significantly contributing to the long-term sustainability of wild populations, and the tropical aquatic aquarium trade. The aim of this project is to determine the conditions for captive breeding of popular ornamental crab species. Representatives of two land crab genera with different life histories and popular with hobbyists Metasesarma aubryi and Geosesarma spp. will be our model species used in this project. To do this you will (a) characterise their breeding behaviour, (b) ascertain paternity rates for captive-bred crabs, (c) follow and describe their development, (d) characterise the ontogeny of key physiological functions, namely osmo- and iono-regulation, acid-base balance and metabolism in early life stages, and (e) determine the effects of abiotic factors (temperature, salinity, acidification and/or hypoxia) on these. (f) A desk-based literature review and internet site survey will also be undertaken to assess the global trade in land crabs.  

For this exciting and innovative interdisciplinary project we seek a candidate with enthusiasm for, and ideally experience of some aspect of invertebrate developmental biology and/or ecophysiology. A willingness to travel internationally is essential. The successful candidate will undertake training in data mining and analysis, animal husbandry, behavioural ecology, developmental biology and ecophysiology, as well as molecular ecology techniques.   

Calado, R., Lin, J., Rhyne, A.L., Araújo, R., and Narciso, L. (2003) Marine ornamental decapods—Popular, pricey, and poorly studied. Journal of Crustacean Biology, 23, 963–973.  

Lucu Č., and Turner LM (2024) Ionic regulatory strategies of crabs: the transition from water to land. Frontiers in Physiology, 15, 1399194.  

Conway Holroyd, S., Spicer, J.I., Ellis, R.P., and Turner, L.M. (submitted) How can ecophysiology inform the health of ornamental shrimp during trade and transportation? Oceanography and Marine Biology – An Annual Review.  

Tills, O., Holmes, L.A., Quinn, E., Everett, T., Truebano, M., and Spicer, J.I. (2023) Phenomics enables measurement of complex responses of developing animals to global environmental drivers. Science of the Total Environment, 858, 159555.  

Roberts, D.L., Mun, K. and Milner-Gulland, E. (2021) A systematic survey of online trade: trade in Saiga antelope horn on Russian-language websites, Oryx. Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-8. 

Applicants should have a first or upper second class honours degree in an appropriate subject or a relevant Masters qualification.   

If your first language is not English, you will need to meet the minimum English requirements for the programme, IELTS Academic score of 6.5 (with no less than 5.5 in each component test area) or equivalent.  

Successful candidates who meet UKRI’s eligibility criteria will be awarded a fully-funded ARIES studentship of fees, maintenance stipend (£19,237 p.a. for 2024/25) and research costs.  

A limited number of ARIES studentships are available to International applicants. Please note however that ARIES funding does not cover additional costs associated with relocation to, and living in, the UK. 

NB: The studentship is supported for 3.5 years of the four-year registration period. The subsequent 6 months of registration is a self-funded ‘writing-up’ period. 

ARIES is committed to equality, diversity, widening participation and inclusion in all areas of its operation. We encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, and transgender status. Projects have been developed with consideration of a safe, inclusive, and appropriate research and fieldwork environment. Academic qualifications are considered alongside non-academic experience, with equal weighting given to experience and potential. 

For further information, please visit www.aries-dtp.ac.uk.

If you wish to discuss this project further informally, please contact Dr Lucy Turner .

Please see our apply for a postgraduate research programme page for a list of supporting documents to upload with your application. 

For more information on the admissions process generally, please visit our Apply for a postgraduate research programme page or contact the Doctoral College .

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview after the deadline. We regret that we may not be able to respond to all applications.  Applicants who have not received a response within six weeks of the closing date should consider their application has been unsuccessful on this occasion.