ID please....strange crab out of nowhere

[acro-ed]

Hello,
I was just taking some pics for some frags Im selling, and looked underneath my green pocillapora colony and here is this strange crab.
I have added nothing to this tank in about 2 years. No new rock, no new corals. Only put in a couple fresh cut frags from my other tanks. I put about 1 lb of live rock rubble in the sump about 9 months ago.

I did notice the molting from this crab about 2 months ago, and thought maybe it was an emerald crab molting that just looked weird at night under a flashlight.

I "think" it is a Calico crab. I dont know how or where it may have come from.

Do you all agree on the ID? Should I smite him like the fist of an angry god, or leave him be? I dont know anything about it other than he must have hitchhiked in as an egg or something.

Thanks for your help,
Ed

 

[scottallert]

sorry idk what it is but its sweet looking

 

[tbar]

I think it's a porcelain

 

[acro-ed]

I initially thought Porcelain also, but the pic I looked at briefly of a porcelain had much thinner claws, and a slightly different color pattern. Any other ideas??

Thanks,
Ed

 

[pimpinitup6969]

after looking at some pics it could be either or but im thinking calico crab..... hes def nice looking! not sure if they are reef safe tho?

 

[philter4]

I'm not sure where it came from but it looks like the gaudy clown crab, Platypodiella spectabilis, from Fl and the Bahamas. I've collected them before and they are easy to keep, I don't know how reef safe they are, but they only get 3/4 of an inch, so they can't hurt any but the smallest of fish. When I had them I almost never saw them except if I put the lights on in the middle of the night. I fed mine bits of shrimp and meaty foods and never had problems, but I'm not allowed to collect stony corals so I don't know if they bother SPS or not.

 

[acro-ed]

Yep, thats definitely him....gaudy clown crab. Thanks for the info. Im glad they dont get any bigger. It is going to be a real chore to catch him. I think its best to put him in the sump, just in case. My smallest fish are green chromis, and I doubt he could get them, but better safe than sorry.

Thanks again,
Ed

 

[Guygettnby]

that is 1 awesome crab. i will take him if you dont want him. i hae a nice home set up for hitch hikers. i would be willing to pay for shipping as well.

 

[acro-ed]

I will try and post another pic once I catch him, then I'll figure out what I'm doing with him.

-Ed

 

[LeslieH]

The sump or a species-tank is the best place for gaudy clowns . It's not your fish you should worry about but your corals - they're known to feed on them.

 

[eyesinthedrk]

so at the verry least hes been in there for 9 months, have you noticed any damage to your corals? if so by all means remove him but if not why disturb him ?

 

[acro-ed]

I have not seen him a single time in the last two weeks! I know he's still in there somewhere. If I find him again I will catch him and put him in the sump until someone wants him. I have noticed that my zoas do not do well in that tank, which I blame on him. I have a large colony of eagle eye zoas that have been looking worse and worse for a long time....well, I have a frag tank in the garage attached to this system through the wall, and I put the zoa colony in there and miraculously they are doing awesome. Im putting two and two together, and getting that "Gaudy Clown Crab" eats polyps. This is a mostly SPS tank, and the SPS are untouched.

-Ed

 

[LemonPanties]

I had one eat a large colony of orange zoas before I found him

 

[acro-ed]

Well, I just thought Id post an update. I finally caught the gaudy clown crab a couple days ago. I pondered for an entire day on what to do with him (while he sat in a dixie cup in my kitchen...lol). He now resides in my sump until someone who wants to pick him up does so. There is about 20lbs of rock and lots of sponges in the sump, so Im sure he'll find something to eat. Oh, and its actually a "she"....not that Im into gender specifics with inverts. It hasnt touched a single SPS, but it loves zoas.

Thanks for the advice!
Ed

 

[Shawno]

Im deff jellous that you got such a cool hitchhiker cuz i love my 2 emerald crabs. they are so interesting. and yours is way more colorful.
if i had another tank i would prolly have a "hitchhiker tank" too like the other person said.
im not a fan of corals yet so it wouldnt have been a problem with me keeping the little crab in my tank. if anything else happens with the crab involved let us know