How evil am I? (Pics)

Nap

New member
This guy has been in my reef for years and i just managed to catch him...





So, do I let him back in the party or rejoice in his capture and send him to a frosty grave in my freezer?

-Ian
 
Nah, he's still alive. I put him in a temporary home (a system that is getting taken down very soon) so he has had a stay of execution until I can find out more about him (species, whether or not he's reef safe, etc...)
-Ian
 
Just this week I discovered a crab that must have been in my tank for years. Rearranged live rock and his cave happened to be front and center in the display, now.

about 3/4" wide, his main shell was bumpy and white. No hairs.

I caught him by using a 3/4" hose w/ suction when I saw him outside of his cave, but when I sucked him out, he came out the other end in 5 pieces. oops.

I humbly vote to remove from the system, but I'm a crab killer so don't listen to me
 
Look at the tips of his claws. rounded and flat (like spoons)

I think he is probably reef-safe (as a crab can be).

If he had been in there for years, were there a string of unidentified coral deaths?

I always understood that pointy tipped claws were for cutting and tearing while spoon like tips were for plucking algae.

Other than his wierd coloration, he looks kinda like an emerald crab.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11896575#post11896575 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by airinhere
Look at the tips of his claws. rounded and flat (like spoons)

I think he is probably reef-safe (as a crab can be).

If he had been in there for years, were there a string of unidentified coral deaths?

I always understood that pointy tipped claws were for cutting and tearing while spoon like tips were for plucking algae.

Other than his wierd coloration, he looks kinda like an emerald crab.

+1

Both my strawberry crab and my emerald have claw tips that look just like that. Very dark brown/black on the end, with a lil white cup instead of a point.

Put a rock with some algae on it in the holding tank, and see if she eats it! I suppose that won't garauntee she doesn't also eat other stuff... but *shrug* bet she's hungry. :lol:

Btw, I say 'she' because my old biology class memories are telling me that the wide "tail" end tucked under its body means its female. Males crabs have a pointy "tail" instead, since they dont have to carry/fan eggs.
 
Looks like some sort of Xanthid crab. Harmful or not, some can can get big and have more than enough strength to do some serious "rearranging" of your aquascape. I'd keep him out of the display.
 
looks like a mithrax crab to me, just not green like the typical Emerald Mithrax crab. I have one in my tank that is 2" across, and i can tell you that if it's hungry, it will go after non-algae food. and they are STRONG. i'd keep it out of your DT.
 
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