Tiny Yellow Crab ID?

[pat_man_ta]

I found this tiny guy stuck in the intake of my HOB AqFugePS on Tuesday. At first i thought it was some sort of goo/smegma. I was quite shocked by the following, in order:
-it was hard
-it was a crab
-it was alive
-it had all its digits
-it was a pretty shade of yellow and black/brown

Here is a sample pic. This is zoomed in quite a bit. I'd say he measures a max of .5" with legs extended. The pic was taken inside a 2floz paper bathroom cup.

i know, i've got 2 crab id threads running now {:\

 

[wilvivas]

looks like the one that ate my turbo snails.

 

[pat_man_ta]

IME, Any crab or shrimp will eat a turbo given an oppurtunity.

 

[LeslieH]

Do you have any clams or anything living in a tube? That's a pinnotherid. Members of this family are all commensals that live with molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates, etc., or inside the tubes of other inverts. There's not much information on feeding. They seem to either eat detritus, mucus created by the host, or bits of food stolen from the host. Should be harmless as far as corals are concerned.

 

[pat_man_ta]

There aretwo brittle stars, two "cleaner clams" and a bunch of snails that came from Saltwaterfish.com but no tubies. I also have two new corals that I got from LiveAquaria.com, a Purple Passion Tree softie and a Green Endive Hydnophora, which are the most recent additions. Nothing in the tank (other than some unlucky astraea snails) shows signs of predation.

 

[Aliie]

Pat_man_ta: Like you avatar alot! Are you going to keep the little guy and just get more snails?

Do you have you new coarls posted somewhere we can view the purple passion tree ?

 

[pat_man_ta]

thx, it's from a flyer i did. i have a 6' flag i made of it too.

the little guy is in my fuge.
i have not posted coral pix yet.
i am concentrating on ID'ing this and another crab first.

 

[LeslieH]

Could be he got separated from his host during shipment to the LFS & moved into the intake looking for a home. Since feeding types vary among pinnotherids there's no way to predict if he'll survive without a host.

 

[pat_man_ta]

I can't find any pictures to compare it to.
Does anyone have any sources?

He's "hosting" in a ball of Chaeto for the time being.

 

[LeslieH]

Do a search on Pinnixa and Pinnotheres.

 

[pat_man_ta]

more of a box shell though {:\

 

[LeslieH]

The common name box crab can refer to at least 3 genera - Calappa, Lopholithodes, and Paramola. It's definitely not any of these. Keep in mind that the internet has pictures of only a fraction of the described species of crabs. You may not be able to find a pinnotherid image that matches yours well enough to say "Eureka! that's it!". Even then, different species may have similar exteriors but are identified on the basis of their claws, jaw structure or something that doesn't show up in a photo. It's the same situation with the xanthid in your other post. To get an accurate id on either of them - and I know you'd like species names - you've have to send them to specialists who will want to know where they came from.