Acro Crab? Return him to his home?

[super stooge]

Hey folks.

So I just managed to fish out this crab hiding within the branches of my acro colony.

If these images are insufficient for an identification, let me know and I will take some more.

Is he a Tetralia sp.? and is he safe to return to his acro colony or should I banish him to the fuge?

He has a purple carapace (matching the colony). The top surface of its claws are black with its right claw being substantially larger than the left.

 

[super stooge]

If any other details would be helpful, just ask and I'll go squint at him for a while

 

[Jettareefer]

In the past if they don't have furry legs and arms they're usually ok! That's was my rule of thumb that one of my old reefer friends told me 10 years ago. Did you notice any damage in the coral he came with ?

 

[sahin]

In the past if they don't have furry legs and arms they're usually ok! That's was my rule of thumb that one of my old reefer friends told me 10 years ago. Did you notice any damage in the coral he came with ?

+1 Same rule that I follow. And of course keep an eye on any acro crab. If you notice damage to the coral and witness a bad crab (ie its eating the acro flesh)...try and fish out the crab and jail him in the sump. If he resists arrest, a wooden kebab/BBQ skewer assists.

 

[vette.tech]

He looks to be ok as far as I know, I really want a couple for a few of my colonies..maybe they would keep the hermit crabs out as they always like to go in there to molt

Lol@ resisting arrest, I don't know if I'd have the heart to just skewer one myself

 

[dendrite]

divers den sells them periodically.Once they get acclimated and survive they have proven to be quite hardy and fun

 

[DieselJunkie]

I have had some hitchhike on birdsnests and other SPS.

I have always left them with the colony, There is probably 4 in my tank. I see them cleaning all of the time and never noticed any damage to the SPS. They are kind of cool to watch during coral feeding.

 

[Bilk]

He's perfectly fine and will help he coral stay clear of some pests, detritus, algae, etc.

 

[GT350pwns]

He's a good guy. I'm saying some form of the tetralia genus

 

[rgulrich]

tetrailia/trapezia.
Put it back in the acropora or seriatopora - there's some real good research papers readily available on the web on these guys and what they do for the coral.