Crab id from description

[Mustang Boy]

ok guys i have a crab that i got in some live rock from tampabay saltwater that i dont know what is but because of its chosen hiding spot it will make it very hard to photograph but i will try in the morning and until then i will give you guys the best description i can

its red with orange eyes, red and white striped legs, smooth shell and legs, i cant see the pincers to well to describe them sorry

and at a guess id say at best its an inch in width probably closer to .75in

 

[keezdiver]

so this was collected locally?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Check here - http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/thepackage/organisms.html

 

[Mustang Boy]

ok he moved to a hole on the rock today instead of hiding under it. it is in a much better spot for me to look at it but i cant get a good pic of it but it doesnt help that the only camera i have is on my phone. i could see a little more of it today. it is completely smooth no furry legs or back or anything. the pincers are red and white but mostly white(still cant see the tips of the pincers though). its eyes are definitely orange. it looks nothing like any of the crabs listed on the tampa bay saltwater site regrettably.

 

[VAHeatt]

DOES ITS EYES HANG OUT FROM IT SHELL? IM HAVIN THE SAME PROBLEM ID'ing mines as well. (sorry 4 the caps)

 

[Mustang Boy]

i cant really tell because of where he is hiding all i can see is him straight on i cant see if his eyes hang out or not

 

[Mustang Boy]

ok guys i got a picture of him its not the greatest cause once i found him it took me a minute to find my phone and by then he had started to crawl deeper in the hole but hopefully this pic helps

 

[Mustang Boy]

i dont know how but over night this guy or his friend died and i saw it laying on the sand bed. now i dont know how he died i did hear alot of clicking last night but i dont see any damage to his shell so i dont think a mantis got him. i did get some better pics of him though so maybe somebody can ID him from these pics

 

[liverock]

i dont know how but over night this guy or his friend died and i saw it laying on the sand bed. now i dont know how he died i did hear alot of clicking last night but i dont see any damage to his shell so i dont think a mantis got him. i did get some better pics of him though so maybe somebody can ID him from these pics

Most likely a molt...do a bit of investigation....

 

[Mustang Boy]

i cut it open before i threw it out n it was clear inside but appeared fleshy but im not positive what a dead crabs guts look like, well atleast not raw ones lol

 

[VAHeatt]

thats a strawberry crab,sort of like the emerald. I seen two recently at the LFS.

 

[Mustang Boy]

idk ive seen pics of strawberry crabs and they all had white spots on the back and this one is completely red except for the legs and tips of the pincers

 

[liverock]

i cut it open before i threw it out n it was clear inside but appeared fleshy but im not positive what a dead crabs guts look like, well atleast not raw ones lol

it was a molt...he is still in there somewhere....when they molt they hide for a few days until they harden up!

 

[650-IS350]

Stone crab...

I've had TBS live rock before. came with tons of Stone crabs, Gorilla Crabs, Mantis shrimps, teddy bears I think, mullusk eating snails... get them out. The bigger the crabs get the more damage they can create to your tank inhabitants.

 

[Mustang Boy]

it was a molt...he is still in there somewhere....when they molt they hide for a few days until they harden up!

ok thanks i found where he is hiding at night so ill give him a few weeks to settle in some more and ill try to catch some of the other bad hitch hikers in taht time frame and save them in a critter keeper in the tank then if i dont find a mantis in the rock ill email you about ordering one

Stone crab...

I've had TBS live rock before. came with tons of Stone crabs, Gorilla Crabs, Mantis shrimps, teddy bears I think, mullusk eating snails... get them out. The bigger the crabs get the more damage they can create to your tank inhabitants.

well this wont be a reef tank(i dont think lol) it will mostly be a scorp/lion tank so im not insanely worried about bad crabs and i would love to find a mantis but i dont think i have one in the tank just pistols

 

[peasofme]

my lfs is selling this guy as a strawberry crab too. i would buy him but they want $15

 

[Mustang Boy]

id be wary because on a different forum they ID'd it as a xanthis crab which will pick at corals

 

[Mustang Boy]

seems like all the hitch hiker crabs are molting i found another molt today from a crab i only saw for the first time last night

 

[barnabus's gimp]

that is not a strawberry crab, it looks like a juvenile killer xanthid crab. with the black claws and protrusions on it carapace. I had a few of these guys and they seem to be red in the beginning and then turn white. people buy them thinking they are a certain type of crab only to see them chomping on their most prized corals.

 

[peasofme]

i saw a real strawberry crab at a lfs the other day. they are light pink with white spots in the pattern like a strawberry. it was $25. ouch.