Trachyphyllia boring shrimp/crab
- Thread starter louist
- Start date
deanos
New member
That makes sense, since I believe the crab's location would be the coral's weakest point.
Here's a thread on my local reef site inspired by this one:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/coral-farming/27215-gall-crab.html
Here's a thread on my local reef site inspired by this one:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/coral-farming/27215-gall-crab.html
elegance coral
They call me EC
I just wanted to thank Louist for posting this thread. I just found the same nasty little shrimp/crab in my new Elegance. If I wouldn't have seen this thread I probably would have just thought it was a deformity in the skeleton and paid no attention to it. It was full of eggs just like the pic. This is a nasty nasty creature straight out of the bowls of @%^&#.
Did your coral survive?
Did your coral survive?
Fliger
New member
Hey guys - I'll bet Interceptor might be good to treat these guys. In stronger doses it kills all crustaceans. When I treated for RB's a couple years ago - it took out all my shrimp, acro crabs and even an emerald crab. Doesn't affect LPS at all, it actually makes them kinda hungry. I would take all my LPS out - put them in a bin with a powerhead and use half a pill. Maybe treat it for a few hours. Make sure you use a bin that you can watch the buggers die off.
AIMFish
Premium Member
Interesting crab. It reminds me of the immobile hermits that I've seen, actually found one once, but they are all pictured living in old tubeworm holes. The soft curled end of the body is very hermit like. I don't frequent the other invertebrates section much but perhaps a crab specialist does?
GoingPostal
Active member
I believe these may be what's living in my candy canes. There are holes in between the heads and something living in it, I can only see claws. I've dipped in freshwater, iodine dips and can't get them to come out. Does anyone think it would be safe to cut in the skeleton and dig them out? They irritate some of the candys and the other's seem fine with it but I don't want them spreading to my other lps, especially the brains.
LeslieH
Premium Member
Hi everyone -- I just was searching for posts with 'gall crab" and found this one. Louis - that was a gall crab you had. There are quite a few different types with very different body shapes. Some look like regular crabs while others are quite bizarre. I think yours is in the family Cryptochiridae which has 41 species in the tropical Pacific. Aquanut6's first one appears to be another species of gall crab while his second one is a hermit crab. Judging by the curled soft abdomen that's a normal hermit that somehow lost it's shell & was looking for a new home.
Even though the common name is "gall crab" not all of them form galls; many just have open holes. They are obligate commensals & can't live anywhere else. Scubajsm's info is correct. they don't really harm the corals as the corals grown around them to form the holes & galls. They eat coral mucus and/or filter feed. Many help keep the corals clean & the more mobile of them help fend off coral predators. In some, the females are restricted to the galls while the males which are smaller can slip in & out.
The crustacean curator at my museum is quite interested in these crabs & would love to get specimens for a study. There's a pinned message in the Other Invertebrates Forum which explains how to preserve & send crabs if anyone would like to contribute specimens.
Even though the common name is "gall crab" not all of them form galls; many just have open holes. They are obligate commensals & can't live anywhere else. Scubajsm's info is correct. they don't really harm the corals as the corals grown around them to form the holes & galls. They eat coral mucus and/or filter feed. Many help keep the corals clean & the more mobile of them help fend off coral predators. In some, the females are restricted to the galls while the males which are smaller can slip in & out.
The crustacean curator at my museum is quite interested in these crabs & would love to get specimens for a study. There's a pinned message in the Other Invertebrates Forum which explains how to preserve & send crabs if anyone would like to contribute specimens.
aquanut6
Premium Member
Leslie, that is great information. However, I'd have to differ about the 'gall crab' that was in my acan as the tissue around the hole was continuing to recede. After removing it from the acan, it has thrived much more than it did with the crab. I remember reading somewhere that not all gall crabs were safe but that the majority of them were no threat to the corals.
LeslieH
Premium Member
You could certainly be right. There aren't many people working on life history/ behavior of these crabs so not much is known about the majority of species. At least one species keeps a circle of a bare space around its hole in order to cultivate filamentous algae which it eats. While it doesn't affect the coral any more than that I'm sure a reefer wouldn't like the appearance. It would be great if people who have them would make a few notes about their behavior or feeding & then send them to us for id. That would add a lot of useful information to our knowledge of these interesting crabs.
MinibowMatt
Active member
I just found a dead one like in the OP's pic. It was almost 3/8" diameter, and all curled up. I thought it was a hermit without its shell, but now I think it was a gall crab... Uggghh
