what kind of crab is this and is it safe?

[ReefLogic]

i found this crab on one of my acros, and by the looks of it hes not safe. I couldnt get that clear a shot so i used one form a slide show in the Dec 2003 issue of reefkeeping

the only real difference is mine is green with a red "snoot"

[ReefLogic]

anyone?

[bertoni]

Crabs aren't safe, in general. There's an article on identifying crabs in a recent ReefKeeping.com article that you could try reading. Dr Shimek will be back on Monday.

[Mkman]

Hey, I'm guessing here, but it could be a Trapezia (coral crab)? If Dr Shimek can identify it as a coral crab, its a good critter that live between the branches of stony corals especially acroporas, etc.

[StrongHandsMcGee]

Looks like a baby decorator crab to me.

[sdm]

I second StrongHandsMcGee.
Looks like a spider decorator to me.

[Phisher]

Yea looks like a deco crab.

Joe

[rshimek]

Hi,

It is a majid or spider crab. See here (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rs/index.htm) for information about them. In general, they are not reef safe, but they are probably less destructive than some other crabs, such as xanthids.

[romunov]

He is a neat animal though. :D