Interesting crab

[mendelec]

Dr. Ron-

I've got an interesting crab and was wondering if you might have any insight on him. Started out as a commensal in an acro. One of the dreaded "evil hairy crabs." :eek: Didn't seem to be doing any harm, so I let him be. He eventually outgrew the acro and vanished into the rockwork. Lately, he's reappeared, having grown to the size of a pretty good-sized mithrax crab. i.e., couple inches across. The most distinctive characteristics (to me) are the hairy legs and dark claws that end in flat disks. Quite an active eater of plantlife, but he's become quite the bulldozer lately. The latter characteristic will eventually get him relocated to another tank.

I know, no pics, no ID. Not really expecting anything. Just sharing mostly. I'll see if I can get him to pose for me...

Elliot

[mejiggery]

not sure what the crab is but heres a great article about crasbs,
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/rs/index.htm

[rshimek]

Hi Elliot,



About all I can suggest is to follow the suggested link (mejiggery, [thanks]) and see if you can identify it yourself from the information given in the article. My guess is that is a xanthid, and probably is not reef-aquarium safe, but without an image, I really can't say.

[mendelec]

Hmm... Thanks for the link. Guess I should have figured out by now that you've already written an article on just about every group of beasties.

My guy was actually out and posing for me last night, but the camera chose to focus on the algae on my glass instead of the crab (arrgh!), so the shot wasn't going to be too helpful. I'm assuming he's a xanthid of some sort. Perhaps I can poke around and come up with somthing more specific on my own.

Thanks for the lead,
Elliot