Help Identify Crab (pic)

[cchoffman]

I have been having trouble keeping snails in my tank lately. I removed all hermits to the sump. Still lost a new half dozen. Found this guy tucked in a rock. The color on the pic is a little off. He is brown and white on his shell. With dark brown claws. His legs are hairy, but not his shell.(Like an emerald crab). Other tank inhabitates

2 GSM Clowns
1 Blue Chromis
1 Banner Cardinal
1 FoxFace Rabbit Fish
1 Green Mandarine
1 Black SailFin Blenny
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
1 Fire Shrimp
2 Emerald Crabs
1 Electric Eye Scallop


I put the new find in the sump just in case.

Let me know if you can ID him good or bad.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

It's extremely difficult to identify a crab from a picture. Because the shape of the carapace is a vivid hexagon, all I can tell you is that it's a Xanthid crab.

FWIW, all crabs, including hermits, are opportunistic feeders. Some like Emerald Crabs tend to pick at algae while others tend to actively hunt, but if something slow enough comes their way, they have no problem picking it up and eating it. That leaves things like snails very vulnerable. It's safe to say that you should treat ALL crabs with extreme caution.

 

[JHemdal]

I agree that it looks like a Xanthid crab. How large is it? If the picture showed the animal from the front, it might be easier to ID it. If the claws come together like hooks, it might be in the genus Estisus. I believe some of these feed on snails.

Jay Hemdal

 

[cchoffman]

He is a little camera shy. The claws are not hooks, just your standard looking crab claws. I will leave him in the sump and get a new load of snails. See if I am feeding anything else.