Finally a PIC of my hitchhiker.....

[oneflysi]

ok, last time i posted this no one even gave me any suggestions really on what this hitchhiker crab is, but this time i have a couple pics. i tried the best i could holding my red flashlight in one hand and focusing my digicam in the other wasn't easy...but i think you get the picture. what type of crab is this??????

here he is picking up one of my big astrea shells and carrying it back to his hole.

here is another of him in his usual hideout. he is nocturnal as hell....he even wants to hide from my red flashlight. you can see him back there with his striped legs.

anyone? is he good? bad? i have had 3 fish, and 2 emeralds die since i noticed him.
-One

 

[predator]

I'v never seen acrab like that. But, If I notice a new guy running around my tank. And thing start dying. He would have to go.

 

[aczmey]

This crab is very mean snail-crab eating machine.
Get rid of it if you can catch it, I had one of those before. It has a great appetite, you will see.
<img src="graemlins//bah.gif" border="0" alt="[bah]" /> <img src="graemlins//angel.gif" border="0" alt="[angel]" />

 

[jakob4001]

I'd try to bait it & capture it...& positively ID it w/ any luck...then take to LFS that might give credit for it or trade it...looks kind of like cross between a porcelan crab & saly lightfoot to me...those pinchers look pretty nasty though...it is definately NOT a molted emerald crab

 

[oneflysi]

haha....he is a funny little

[hr]
i'll tell you that. he is like a ninja crab or something. he is like a construction crew also....he digs these caves and breaks off peices of LR to make as doors on his caves so you can't see him until he knocks open his door at night to come out and play. he could be nearly impossible to catch unless i take out the LR. i mean, at the slightest bit of light (even with the red lense), he wants to try and carl lewis it back to his hideout. how would i go about setting a trap for him?? i would definetely like to get rid of him.
let me know how to set a trap and i will do it tonight and take some pics of him again and the trap.
thanks!!
-One

 

[jakob4001]

well if nothing else is on his LR hideout...you simply could place in tub until it came out...or use 20 oz coke bottle put somethin to weight it down w/ & piece of food of some type...course you have to catch him in there while he goes for the bait

 

[oneflysi]

i don't know about that bottle method....he's is not liking any type of lighting i put in the tank...so it would be hard to see him go into the bottle. i guess i'll just have to try and remove the peice of LR...though i have some brittlestars and serpent starts living under it for sure. damn, this isn't going to be easy. any other ideas out there???
-One

 

[taku]

How about using a small coke bottle with meat inside.. then lay it sideways in the sand bed so the opening is slightly higher than the base of the bottle. The crab can easily walk into the openingusing rocks or whatever you setup outside the opening... then when he gets inside he will be unable to get out... that way you can just leave the bottle in there overnight and wake up with him in the bottle
I've never tried it myself but it seems like it would work fine. BTW he is small enough to fit in the opening with no problems right?

 

[oneflysi]

hey taku
that is another reason i don't think the coke bottle theory will work....he is a freakin' hoss. look at the astrea shell he is holding....it is a large (probably the biggest in the tank) shell. it was empty though, but he was just using it as protection from the light. he actually carried that thing up the side of that LR back to his hole. then held it there like a door....i'm telling you this thing is funny...and smart. he will be nearly impossible to catch i think without taking the LR out. i'll see what i can pull off though
-One

 

[oneflysi]

here are a couple more i took of him last night:

good one of his pincher:

and here is a good shot i took of one of my big emeralds grubbin' last night....i hope he can defend himself unlike the 2 smaller ones the mystery crab has already killed. also a comparison of the two:

-One

 

[scuba1]

Have used the plastic coke bottle several times and it works. Might take several days butit does work. The way to do it is to cut the top off the bottle just where it starts to go straight. This leaves you with a funnel which you can turn upside down and push inside the other half. Makes it eaiser to get in and harder to get out. Play around with it and different kinds of bait. Place bottle against rock so easy to craw in. Might have to add some sand. Just the bottle unmodified will not work near as good if at all. Cought many crabs this way when starting up tank trying to get out hitchhikers... good luck.

 

[galina]

Wow.. that's a scary looking crab. I would try the bottle method before removing the rock.. do it every night for atleast four days amd put it up against his rock. Goodluck.. oh, and nice emerald!
Galina

 

[aquaman2]

i saw one just like that but it was huge, i would try to catch him before he kills again.

 

[quiksilver5768]

Your saying a normal coke bottle head is too small? Well you can either cut off the top for a bigger opening or get a bigger head bottle like a poweraid. I used this bottle methos inmy 10 gal for my camel shrimp becuase he started to pick on my corals. But yea, those claws look viscious...I'd get him out of there before he kills everything.

 

[ak_reefer]

Hey One,
I had that same type of crab in my tank. I got rid of him as soon as I could. I kept wondering what was killing all my snails until I saw him in action. I would definetly recommend getting him out as soon as you can.

 

[oneflysi]

UPDATE!!!
hahahaha...i caught his ass. and it only took about an hour and a half from the time i put the bottle in. secured down a small chunk of hot dog and he was in. i was watching for a while with my red light though and my big emerald (pictured above) came all the way from the other side of the tank and got halfway into the bottle and decided he wanted no part of it. he just turned around and went back to the other end <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />
then about an hour later, right before i went to bed i decided to check on more time. sure enough, his little ass was at the bottom of the bottle.....yea! i tried to snap some damn pics but my digi battery died....i'll get some when i get home from work today though.
i moved the bottle to an upright position in the corner of my tank as i have no other place to put him where i can gaurantee he'll live through the day till i can get to the LFS.
i did get in a pic of my trap before my digi died....if you look close you can see the hotdog secured on the bottom....here it is:

like i said, i'll get some good clean pics of the crab tonight before i take him back to the LFS. thanks for all the tips!!
-One

 

[galina]

Congrats for catching the little bugger!
Galina

 

[oneflysi]

well, took him back to the LFS during my lunch break. tried to snap a couple pics of him at lunch but the digi was still dead so, no more pics of the little devil.
some dude at the LFS was like....."uhh, looks like some sort of rock crab...that's all i know." i was like..."o-k?" and after i get done telling them how he's killed 3 fish, 2 emeralds, and 4+ snails they throw him in with 10+ astrea snails, a serpent star, a very small goby and 2 emeralds??? ok then morons
anyway, i guess that ends this little saga of the mystery crab. for some reason, i'm gonna miss the little punk and his mysterious acts. thanks again for all of your help!
-One