Gaetice Depressus species = Sesarma Bidens

[fishb0ne]

One of my LFS carries some crabs, they are all held in the same [inhumane] aquarium, fiddlers and what are labeled as "red claw crab". Under the common name the store also has the scientific name. These red claw crabs are, according to them, of the gaetices depressus species. I looked on the net and there is very little information I could find. They seem to be referred to as "red crabs" and look exactly like red claw crabs which, however, are sesarma or perisesarma bidens.
I wanted to get a couple of females but I like reading detailed caresheets beforehand, something I wasn't able to find. Am I pretty safe to assume these require the same habitats as fiddler/red claws and are perfect for my brackish biotope?

This site has some info:
http://www.tropicalfish4u.co.uk/acatalog/Red_Crab.html
however, it seems they just slapped something together because I distinctly remember that identical piece of text on a sesarma bidens caresheet page. I think they just copied/pasted the info so I don't know how reliable it is ...

 

[fishb0ne]

Having used Google Books to find information on the sesarma bidens and gaetice depressus species of crabs, I think I'm safe to say that both are pretty much the same. They are found in estuaries, inhabiting muddy flaps and sandy beaches. From the pictures I have found, the two are exactly alike. Sesarma bidens is also known as red clawed crab, gaetice depressus has been referred to as intertidal cobble crab. They both come from Asia, found in places such as Japan, Southern China and Hong Kong. I have seen references of scientific observation of Sesarma Bidens coming from Japan, Gaetice Depressus from Hong Kong and vice versa. Their live span is said to be roughly 2 years and they take about 8 months to mature. In a book called "Doctoral Dissertations on Hong Kong", both species are mentioned. I haven't been able to pinpoint specific reasons why the two crabs belong to different species, I'm sure there are differences at the anatomical level which would probably not be of great concern to the average aquarist. It appears that, as mentioned in the book called "An Introduction to the Cape D'Aguilar Marine reserve, Hong Kong", on page 2 I think, that the gaetice species has a very variable carapace coloration, ranging from cream to brown blotches, all on a grey background. From what I know, the red claw crab is ... well, mostly reddish to brown. This may be one thing that they differ in.

Therefore, I believe it is safe to assume that both species require the same tank set-up. Any other information that you might have would be greatly appreciated.