Crab in Bird's nest??? Good or Bad?
 

Hello all,

I just purchased a bird's nest from our LFS and noticed that there is a crab living in it (I haven't put the frag into the tank yet). The crab is red with white circles all over his body. I can't get a good look at his pinchers but am concerned if this could be an evil killing crab? Anyone have any ideas I am off to check Melevs site for an ID as well but anyone with info please help!!

if you see him picking at the coral, you should remove him. If not, and you want to keep him, you could just keep a close eye on him, but remember it will be hard to remove after getting it into your tank.

Yeah if he ever got off of the coral he would be about impossible to get out of the tank maybe I will try to get him off and put him in the sump.

I think that this is the beast any one have any experiences??


[url]http://www.stephenwong.com/gallery/Crustaceans/Crab_Coral_Crab_01_Trapezia_rufopunctata[/url]

you can try the sps forum someone there might help you

I have a red and blue crab that looks much like the one shown on your link. It moves about the three colonies of Pocillopora that I have in my tank. All parties evolved seem happy. I wouldn't worry about it.

Better yet, post in the invert forum. I bet Leslie can tell you what it is. If it's a commensal crab, you may kill it if you take it off the coral it's living in.

IME the crabs that are smooth and not hairy do more good than bad in SPS. If it is hairy and dark in color remove it.

I had 3 or 4 in a large pocillopora colony for years! No problems. They never left the colony. they do like brine shrimp

just do a google search on Commensal crabs, neat hitchikers and can be left alone

Thanks for the info I am going to try him out. The LFS has had that frag in their tank for about 2 months and he has never left that coral so hope for the best. Someone in the SPS forum said that it was probably a Commensal crab as well. Thanks again for the info.

If it's really Trapezia rufopunctata you lucked out. As people have suggested it's one of the beneficial commensal coral crabs. These keep their host corals clean of silt & debris & defend them from would-be predators. Some filter feed, eat coral mucus, and perhaps some flesh from coral as well but the amount lost is minimal in comparison to the increased growth the corals experience.

I wonder how many people actually looked at your pic.
Usually it's either the typical smooth commensal(great to have) or the hairy one(bad guy)
I have never seen yours b4
Looks really cool, hope it's beneficial, and other than really unusual color it does have the look of commensal.
That could be a real nice score.

It just depends! I had an emerald crab destroy an sps colony.:mad2:

Probably some kind of "acro crab"