Well today I did my usual tank maintance. Normally when I see a small gorilla crab, I only kill it if it is an easy to reach area. I'm talking about the small ones, 1/2" maybe. Well, I happend to see one in a really easy to reach area so I grab a steak knife and kill it in the tank like normal (good food for everyone else in there), and low and behold... it was a she, and she had a full brood of eggs!!!! Now, I was under the impression that the crabs that small were just left over juves, but this is not the case, so if you see even small gorilla crabs, try to take them out/kill them if possible, because it seems they are readily able to reproduce in our tanks.
Watch those groilla crabs...
- Thread starter Dazz
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dwculp
New member
Difference between Gorrila and Porcelain Crabs
Difference between Gorrila and Porcelain Crabs
How do you tell the difference between a Gorilla and a Porcelain crab?
As I was at work watching my tank today I saw a large (half dollar sized) crab in a hole. He was looked purplish with white streaks. He had small claws with white tips. Gorilla crab?
Difference between Gorrila and Porcelain Crabs
How do you tell the difference between a Gorilla and a Porcelain crab?
As I was at work watching my tank today I saw a large (half dollar sized) crab in a hole. He was looked purplish with white streaks. He had small claws with white tips. Gorilla crab?
bkwudzjeep
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Re: Difference between Gorrila and Porcelain Crabs
Re: Difference between Gorrila and Porcelain Crabs
Porcelain crabs are mainly filter feeders and have what look like catchers mits that they use to filter food into their mouth....the ones from TBS usually are red/white striped (fine lines)
Re: Difference between Gorrila and Porcelain Crabs
The gorilla crabs have hair all over them, even on their claws.dwculp said:
Porcelain crabs are mainly filter feeders and have what look like catchers mits that they use to filter food into their mouth....the ones from TBS usually are red/white striped (fine lines)
Fountainhead
New member
Oh yeah! Here's one...and he's LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU!!!!tspfish said:
aujosh84
New member
it may be a red emerald crab, also known as a red mithrax crab from what i hear. I'v got a lot of those guys too...one or 2 don't seem to be very destructive, but 10 of these guys really seem to be doing some damage to my rocks and sponges, especially since they're eating my macro like crazy. AND they LOVE the chaeto too. Got some from the local LFS and it's all gone now, except for a small little bit i moved up above one of my powerheads. The porcelains are a different story, i have those guys running everywhere, there fun to watch and cause no distruction at all.
No that is not a red mithrax. The gorilla crabs have black tips on their claws and the tips are very pointy and rounded like the pic above shows. They are very cautious, they are very sneaky. The porclin crabs are filter feeders and you can see them waiving their nets around. Mithrax crabs have flattened tips on their claws because they are not used for piercing other things, they are made for picking up large ammounts of ditritus and vegtable matter.
Snarkys
.Registered Member
i got three types of crabs . tons of gorilla crabs , you will know these because they have hair all over their backs. even more mithrix crabs, they have hair on their legs only and much smaller claws. i also got a freaking ton of porclin crabs . these have some mean looking claws but i have never seen one use them on anything and they have they clear fans they use to filter the water.
Fountainhead
New member
When they're small, they probably don't do too much damage, other than picking at corals and so forth. But they can be truly nasty when they get big...and they can get BIG. The one that I posted a picture of above was (I'm almost certain) responsible for clipping the leg off of one serpant star, and gashing open the disc of another. Peaceful, they aren't.tspfish said:
bkwudzjeep
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If it is putting stuff on its back, and from the pic, it looks like it could be a decorator crab. They stick stuff to their backs for camoflauge.
Definitely not a gorilla, but not sure if they are bad.
You can catch them by using a thoroughly rinsed glass with bait (shrimp, silverside, or whatever you have around) and lean it up near where you saw it. It will go in the glass to try to eat and won't be able to get out. You may catch other things too, like snails and such, but eventually he "should" give in.
Definitely not a gorilla, but not sure if they are bad.
You can catch them by using a thoroughly rinsed glass with bait (shrimp, silverside, or whatever you have around) and lean it up near where you saw it. It will go in the glass to try to eat and won't be able to get out. You may catch other things too, like snails and such, but eventually he "should" give in.
