Abstract
Crabs of the genus Scylla are commonly known as mud crabs or mangrove crabs. They are found in intertidal and sub-tidal zones of estuaries and in mangrove systems in tropical to warm temperate zones of the Pacific and Indian oceans. Farming of mud crabs has been conducted in China for at least 100 years, and in other Asian countries for more than 30 years (Figures 1 & 2). In Japan, sea-ranching of hatchery produced mud crab juveniles has also been carried out for more than a decade. The market demand and price for mud crabs have increased substantially over recent decades, stimulating rapid growth of mud crab aquaculture industries in several Asian countries. Successful hatchery rearing of mud crabs has been reported from various countries (Figure 3), but low and inconsistent larval survival is still a major problem. As a result, mud crab farms currently rely almost exclusively on seed stock caught in the wild to stock their ponds.