I got these 2 crabs from the LFS, can't ID (he said ghost crabs & safe for reef)

[ufgator122]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here. I've seen interesting crabs from "Fish Collection" LFS in North Miami Beach. I got these for $6 each and he said he had them at home and are reef safe. He called them ghost crabs, but I did an extensive search and I can't ID them. Any help would be great! They're still in the bag right now acclimating.

Thanks,
Victor

 

[Betta132]

Ghost crabs are land-dwelling and don't look like that. I've never seen crabs hold their claws like that... I'd suggest you keep them in a bucket with a couple of rocks and an airstone until you get an ID.

 

[Calappidae]

Those are soldier crabs. They're like a shore crab actually. I don't exactly know much about them but you can find millions of them forming "an army" out of water along the shore.. so maybe a half land, half water tank would be an ideal setup kinda like a fiddler crab.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/njsAEaiWVxk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is a ghost crab.

 

[ufgator122]

Hmm..they certainly look the same as the soldier crab. I wonder if they'll be okay being underwater 24/7 lol.

 

[Betta132]

Probably not. They'll start trying to climb out and may or may not die if left in there.
I suggest you set up maybe a half-full 10g tank with a sand slope so they can get out of the water and run around on land.