Help Identify this small crab hitch hiker!

[sg_halvorsen]

Bought a nice small piece of live rock from the LFS for my nano tank and when I was unwrapping the paper towel this little guy came running out. There was also a small worm on it that I am hoping is just a bristle. Anyway I was wondering if anyone could help identify it.

It is >1cm wide with the legs

I'm guessing its a juvenile which might be why I cant find any similar crabs in the various hitch hiker guides.



Thanks!

 

[jennmac415]

Possibly a juvenile porcelain crab?? It's ok if that's what it is.

 

[Betta132]

Porcelain! Lucky find, put him in the tank. Do keep an eye on him, though, and offer him tiny foods in the water. Porcelains have two little fans on their front that they'll raise and fan through the water in order to catch food, a bit like if they had two featherdusters for hands. Best way to feed is to use a turkey baster or a pipette to slowly release tiny bits of food (ground pellets/flakes would work, or filter-feeder foods) upstream from the crab. Wait until you see it out fanning, and be careful not to scare it.
How big is the tank? In many tanks they do fine without extra food. Given that it's a nano, I'd still offer food, just in case.
Those big flat claws are actually almost useless... as you can see, they don't even close all the way. They're purely for intimidation purposes, and they're the best way to ID one of these.
Probably didn't find him in the guides because they usually don't hitch-hike.

 

[MdgtRac]

Cool! Thats a nice find, much better than hearing its a gorilla crab.