I'm gettin' a little crabby

[spyderman]

Just set up my new 12 g aquapod and got some awesome live rock. Along with all the other life I'm noticing more and more crabs about.

I've heard Gorilla crabs are bad and you can identify them by the black tips on their claws. I've seen a couple of crabs though that have black tips but otherwise don't look like the pictures I've seen of gorillas.

Are there any other crabs that have the black tips and do I have to worry about these when there only about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch???

Thanks :mixed:

 

[LeslieH]

Gorilla crab seems to be a general name for xanthid crabs with sparse long hairs & big claws. Black tipped claws are commonly found in xanthids & many other families so that's not a good character for identification.

Most crabs will eat anything that doesn't move faster than they do. At their current size your crabs may not bother other animals too much but they may also pick away at sessile organisms like corals.

This article will tell you more about crabs in general
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rs/index.php