Can anyone ID this rather large hermit crab?

[Retail_Therapy]

He's the largest I've seen in a salt tank and I'm not having much luck identifying him.

His claw arms are approximately 2" long and his walking legs approximately 3" long with pronounced blue stripes down his legs and blue spots on his claws.

Any info is welcome, thanks in advance.

 

[Betta132]

I think it's called a longarm hermit. Wouldn't keep it with corals. Do you have a sump or refugium to move it to, just in case?

 

[Calappidae]

Clibanarius longitarsus

Keep an eye on him, I wouldn't trust it in a reef populated tank.

 

[Retail_Therapy]

Clibanarius longitarsus

Keep an eye on him, I wouldn't trust it in a reef populated tank.

After a Google image search... Bingo! Thank you.

Ironically enough he is in my tank with a little more than a handful of LPS corals and he actively leaves them be. I was worried for obvious reasons but he will walk by my hammer, lightly touch it and he's on his way. Same way with the Blasto, acan and GSP.

I'd love to find a new home for him as I am in the market for an anemone and have planned for a zoa garden. At some point I'm certain his temptation will get the best of him (and my corals).

Thanks a ton for the ID.

 

[Calappidae]

No prob!

If he's hungry he may bother corals but that's a crab for you, in general his large bulky size could bulldoze anything you have. You have a moving peice of live rock in your tank basicly.

Anemone I definitly wouldn't trust him around.

I'm curious where you got him?

 

[Retail_Therapy]

I was gifted my tank from a customer who could no longer care for it. At the time it was a fowlr (and in pretty bad shape, too). I have no idea how he came to have it, I just wish I could find someone who wanted him, he's a gorgeous specimen!

Moving piece of live rock, hadn't thought of it that way... :/

 

[Betta132]

Maybe you could stick him in a sump or 'fuge? He's a very pretty boy.

 

[sam.basye]

It looks exactly like my gulf of Mexico hermit crab, just a different coloration. Mine is tan/yellow with blue eyes. It has the same claws with the black lines on the edges.

I love mine - wanders around the tank scooping sand for detritus and picks all the algae off the rocks for me. He even picks the algae off of the snails! He does wander the tank and walk all over the corals, but has never done anything wrong He's about 1.5" across. Here's a pic of him picking the dead skin off my finger as a snack lol

 

[Calappidae]

^That's a Clibanarius vittatus, those ones are actually pretty common to get a hold of.

They get pretty big as well (I think 4 inches but I'm not entirely sure)

 

[sam.basye]

^That's a Clibanarius vittatus, those ones are actually pretty common to get a hold of.

They get pretty big as well (I think 4 inches but I'm not entirely sure)

Yep, that be the one. Mine came straight from the beach at Charleston, SC.

I found him and he has grown about 3/4" since owning it. He tears the silicone off the corners of the tank climbing to the top to filter the food floating at the surface. lol

Think you can ID this one for me? It is tan with some slight orange in the joints and zebra striped eye stalks. Only 1/2" and not getting any bigger. I think it came from the gulf of FL. Possibly SC.

 

[Calappidae]

I have several images of them however nobody seems to be getting the correct ID. Including me personally.

I can tell you those guys are pretty small and safe. I don't recall them being much different than the other dwarf hermits.

 

[Betta132]

I've seen bigger than that. Every now and then my LFS get hermits that need an entire conch shell. They're huge! I bet you give one a small coconut shell and it'd be happy to live in there. Not sure where they get those or why... they're either for saltwater ponds or they turn up when somebody buys one somewhere and it grows like crazy.

 

[sam.basye]

My dwarf hermit doesn't contribute to much. Tools around at a really slow pace eating algae.
I really like the giant hairy red ones with the white spots, too bad they aren't really good for anything and aren't reef safe.

 

[Noah 123]

Yep, that be the one. Mine came straight from the beach at Charleston, SC.

I found him and he has grown about 3/4" since owning it. He tears the silicone off the corners of the tank climbing to the top to filter the food floating at the surface. lol

Think you can ID this one for me? It is tan with some slight orange in the joints and zebra striped eye stalks. Only 1/2" and not getting any bigger. I think it came from the gulf of FL. Possibly SC.

Sounds like a band eye hermit