Crab ID (xanthid?)

[DogfoodEnforcer]

two days ago during feeding time i caught some motion out of the corner of my eye underneath an overhang on a large rock. i looked closer and holy hell! its a hitchhiker crab!

a while ago i caught a gorilla crab that had been in there since i first set up the tank (thing got pretty big!lol)

anyways, this crab doesnt look like the gorilla crab i found. this thing is furry like one, but the claws and markings are very different from the last crab i caught.

thanks for any help ahead of time. i found another hitchhiker the other night, but this one is furry, with really long legs, and NON-black claws, and NOT red eyes. so i'll keep an eye on it and see what transpires.

this crab i caught today (that i had to dismantle a portion of the tank to catch) is now in the fuge. i wanted to kill it, but i had a bhudda moment.

actually, upon closer inspection the claws are similar to the gorilla crab i found, but this ones claws actually have an almost purplish tint to them, and the carapace has a different pattern.

 

[LeslieH]

Let's just call it a xanthoid.... the old family Xanthidae has been been up into several and ones like this are hard for non-specialists like me to place. Black-tipped claws and red eyes don't mean much. That piece of mis-information gave from an old paper on crabs (I wish I could still find it - it was a hoot to read). Nearly all crabs except the obligate filter feeders have the potential to damage tank inhabitants, even commensals. While I value crabs over corals if you feel different then just keep it in the fuge where it can't hurt anything.

 

[rssjsb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14930366#post14930366 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LeslieH
Black-tipped claws and red eyes don't mean much. That piece of mis-information gave from an old paper on crabs (I wish I could still find it - it was a hoot to read). Nearly all crabs except the obligate filter feeders have the potential to damage tank inhabitants, even commensals. While I value crabs over corals if you feel different then just keep it in the fuge where it can't hurt anything.

I see so many posts about some crab or other where the poster is advising people to "just kill it" because it's got black claws, or red eyes, or hairy legs. So I've often wished there was a sticky on the whole "good crab/bad crab" mythology. But I think you've summed it up so succinctly here that it's hard to think of what else to say on the subject.

 

[DogfoodEnforcer]

well i never like to kill things in my tank. there was one troublesome crab late last year that was decimating my snail and hermit crab populations. that was the only crab that i have intentionally killed...by feeding it to my buddy's porcupine puffer. sorry...but that was mildly entertaining!

this guy is in the fuge for the time being. he's probably happier back there because it is essentially a bunch of liverock piled in there, so he has lots of places to explore.

the main thing that i consider when i find hitchhikers is whether or not i know what it is or can get a positive ID. if i cant, then into the fuge it goes. if i know what it is and it sounds relatively harmless then it gets to stay in the display.