id Help: small tan mottled crab (hitchiked with a fish!)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9123002#post9123002 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SptfireXIV
Its a gorilla crab. They are NOT reef safe. You can see in the pics that he is hairy all over and brown in color.
Click to expand...

All swimming crabs have some "hair" on them, this one does not have the thick coat that a gorilla crab gets, nor does it look at all like an emerald. It really does look a lot like the common mud crab that come in as hitchikers on rock from the Florida area. I have several in my 75 g tank and they need to be watched very closely.

The only only good thing I can think of is the fact that they keep the sand really stirred up. Other than that they're pure trouble.
 
Yeah from the second set of pics I think you're right, definitely not a gorilla crab or an emerald crab.


On a side note, how do you get a hitchiker with a fish? It would almost seem like they had put it in there on purpose.
 
I have no idea how i came to recieve a hitchiker crab with a fish other than they are the same color and must have been close together enough to have ended up in the bag together. The bags were tripled up and had some sort of blackout half bag on the bottoms so I can see how it would not have been noticed easily post-capture.

I have googled and surfed RC and have yet to find another crab exactly like this one or even one with the same shell shape.
 
It's not a Mithrax but it is one of the many hundreds of small xanthid crabs that live in rocks & reefs. If you knew the area we could narrow down the search a bit but I think it would be difficult for a non-specialist (which includes me) to id it just based on a couple of images.

Much clearer images are needed for id. Take a look at our page at http://www.nhm.org/guana/bvi-invt/bvi-surv/crab-g06.htm to see the kind of photographs crab taxonomists want to see. Click on an animal for an enlargement; for some species clicking on the name will show other images.
 
I recant... doesn't look like a mythrax with that shot. The first ones looked right on...but not now.

Possibly a small mitten crab... not sure now. Well for piece of mind I would probably just keep her in a sump or refugium and out of the main tank so you can keep an eye on her.
 
I just saw your thread. Interesting to say the least. first, yes flush it, sump it. But dont reef it.

The reason i found it interesting is this...

At LEAST 6 months ago I ordered GSP and candycane coral from LA.

Each was in a seperate bag, and each bag had the same kind of crab in it.

1 i missed because it was under the gsp mat, but I was able to catch it quickly enough. Then I saw the other on the candycane and caught b4 I added it to the reef.

I e mailed LA because I was really mad about it honestly. (the gsp were aquacultured and never saw the ocean) I told them they were both babies and they should watch out because they must have a nest somewhere

LA said it must be a good crab because they wouldent HAVE bad crabs in theyre aquaculture facility. So i e mailed them back a picture of it and told them they were crazy. They never acknowledged it was a non reef crab, but they refunded my money for the GSP.

Weird, but they must have a ton of them and they giving 1 away with each order lol
 
If anything can be said of live aquaria, their refund policy is awesome. I had some snails that a significant chunk of died pretty quickly. 100% refund.

Too bad about the hitcher being a nuisance though.
 
I would dump the crab out on a white sheet of paper/towel and take some pics of it. I don't see how you guys are making an id of what you can see. I can't even hardly tell that it's a crab in the cup. The color of the cup really throws it off. I still haven't been able to really get a good look at the claws.
 
doesent matter. if its not an emerald, a sally, a porclin.. (may be a COUPLE others) then its not a reef friendly crab...
 
UPDATE! Better Pix!

UPDATE! Better Pix!

i took some better shots of the crab.
(i also found a different one today but i'll save that for another post)

48902DSCF0007.jpg
48902DSCF0010.jpg


48902DSCF0015.jpg
48902DSCF0022.jpg


48902DSCF0027.jpg
48902DSCF0030.jpg


any id's?
 
you know they just threw him in there to make sure your blenny had some company on his trip.

glad you got it ID'd and witha second unknown crab, maybe you should create a crab tank.
 
Well, I'm not 100% satisfied with the ID.
Dromia sp. crabs have sharper and more forward tilted spines on their shells. This one has rounded nubs pointing out to the sides.
 
It's not a Dromia. Those have the 5th pair of legs reduced in size & pointed up over the back to hold onto sponges. This one's a xanthid and as I said before, difficult to identify even if you knew what part of the world it came from.
 
No, that's not it either.
I still have yet to see this thing anywhere online. {:\

It does not have copious amounts of "fur" on its body.
It has a little but not like that and not like a gorilla crab either.
I have not seen this shell shape, even a similar one, anywhere yet still.
 
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