looking for an ID

[craab]

Found this guy in one of my frag tanks. Would like to keep him in my main display but worried he might not be reef safe.

Stripped body, red eyes, shell is about an inch wide.
Can not find any information about him/her.

Anybody got an idea?

 

[LeslieH]

BEsides the big claws, does it have 3 or 4 pairs of legs? If it has 3 then it's an anomuran crab and likely to be a porcellanid. These are deposit or filter feeders and harmless - not something you can say about most crabs. If it has 4 pairs, well, odds are good it's an opportunistic predator & scavenger. A better pic of the body with the legs & claws spread out would be useful in figuring out which family it belongs to.

 

[craab]

confirmed, it has 4 legs. Not reef safe?

 

[LeslieH]

Probably not. You could keep it in your refugium or pass it along to someone who's not worried about corals.

 

[craab]

Thanks for the help.