Help!! Weird crab!!

[Trebella]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/mom2lily04/IMG_0791.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v723/mom2lily04/IMG_0792.jpg

I got him at the store. Lady said he's a stick crab, but I cannot find anything about it on the net. I asked and know what he eats, and his living conditions and what he gets along with, so I'm not completely stupid. Please help!!

 

[charlesr1958]

Possibly a member of the Parthenopidae, or commonly known as the elbow crabs.

A Hitch Hikers Guide to the Reefs

Chuck

 

[Trebella]

i looked and it could be an elbow crab. Are they safe?

 

[Tennyson]

That thing looks really creepy. Are those muddy ball things its eyes? It looks like some sort of alien.

 

[Guygettnby]

no it is not reef safe. very cool looking crab! were are you located? if you dont want it i will take it off your hands. it would make a great addition to my hitch hiker tank

 

[LeslieH]

Chuck is right, it's in the family Parthenopidae. Most of them have these elongated 1st pair of legs and strange sculptured carapaces. The two big lumps are enlarged sides of the carapace; the eyes are the much smaller circles on the right. Some parthenopids are molluscivores with 2 different types of claws. One is a crusher, thicker with a few big nodes along the inner edge used to break open shells. The other claw is a cutter, longer, thinner, with smaller sharper teeth, used to manipulate and cut the mollusc's flesh. The non-specialists eat other crustacea, worms, small inverts, and yes, molluscs. I didn't find any mention of them eating corals but that doesn't mean they won't if there isn't enough food around.