Crab ID

[bacaksiz]

Hello Dr.

What do you think is this fella? It came to me as hitchiker on my live rock. After spending about 3 months in my reef tank I decided better not to risk it so I caught him and put him into my FOWLR. But after what I have read about what some crabs do to fish, I think maybe it's better to banish it to the sump. Nevertheless, I feel pity for it.

I never seen him touching any of my corals, its maybe because I feed him with shrimp like once a week. Maybe that's key for "safe" crabs.

[rshimek]

Hi Serdar,

See my article in the December, 2003, issue of [rk]. Your crab looks like a xanthid.

There are no "safe" xanthids. If you feed it once a week, that only leaves 6 other days in the week for it to eat other things. Crabs seldom eat corals, but most other animals in your tank are fair game for it.

:D