are emerald crabs always green-ish?

[jenjen]

I have seen 2 crabs so far in my tank. They look like emerald crabs, but are more beige/sand coloured. Just wondering if emerald crabs always have a green-ish tinge, and if so is there another crab that looks similar but is more sand coloured?

Thanks

 

[mortonl]

just bought 2 new ones @ LFS which are both similar to your descriptio. I also had one previously that was clearly emarald color.

 

[Flipper62]

emerald crabs .....Green.....HENCE the name ....yep All the ones I have are green...I never had one anything but green..:dance:

 

[jenjen]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13011381#post13011381 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Flipper62
emerald crabs .....Green.....HENCE the name

LOL, that's what's making me wonder. These little guys look very similar (ie: claw shape is the same, body shape the same) but are most definitely not green.

Any ideas what they might be? I've been trying for hours to get a pic... no luck so far.

 

[BradsOcean]

they aren't always green...they might be sand colored until they shed....once they molt, they should be greeen

 

[minispider]

i have an orange one

 

[jenjen]

An orange emerald crab???

The two little guys in my tank are pretty well the same colour as my rock - I saw one of them a bit better today and he appears to have some markings on his claws. maybe two horizontal stripes in a darker colour.

Still trying to get a pic or get them out. Crabs are speedy!

Any crab ID sites anyone can recommend would be appreciated. They don't look like anything on melev's site.

 

[singold]

No, my Emerald crab tends to get a whitish tent to it at times.

 

[parkpark]

does your crab look like this? stripped fuzzy legs and dark claws?

 

[abulgin]

True "emerald crabs", Mithrax sculptus, are green. There are a few other species of crabs that look like an Emerald Crab, including a Mithrax forceps, which is brown/red. Check out this link and try to ID yours: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/crabs/swcrabs.htm

I have a Mithrax forceps and it has been a model citizen in my reef tank:

 

[SteveNMegz]

ours at first started out a nice green but eventually started fading white, then started growing coraline all over is back

 

[Madoktopus]

i think what is most important is the claw shape - mithraxs have spoon shape claws for pulling up algae. ive had red, brown and green, and the green was the only one i had a problem with (it got too big and starting eating my toadstool polyps). so yes mithraxes come in different colours but the name emerald crab maybe a bit too precise.

 

[jenjen]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13018262#post13018262 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by parkpark
does your crab look like this? stripped fuzzy legs and dark claws?

This is the closest to what the guys in my tank look like. The bigger of the two seems to be developing darker claws, the smaller is the same colour all over but this colour and "fuzzy".

I haven't seen either of them today, but saw them both last night.

 

[lloydkeller]

unless molting ther always green