Hermit Crab ID and Info Please???

[s10lowrider]

Just wondering what kind of crab this is. We adopted a tank a while back and he came with it. The crab is about the size of a golf ball (shell included of course) and is pretty aggressive. He has eaten snails, picks at everything and wont leave our feather duster alone. He climbs all over it and picks rather large chunks out of its tube. The blue legs we have just clean the tube gently and move on but he seems to want to destroy it. Any ideas?

 

[smartorl]

He looks just like the wild crabs that we find at Sebastian Inlet. They have the distinctive striped legs and are ravenous scavengers and seem pretty predatory. I am not sure of their actual name. Sorry.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by s10lowrider
http:///forum/post/3145673
Just wondering what kind of crab this is. We adopted a tank a while back and he came with it. The crab is about the size of a golf ball (shell included of course) and is pretty aggressive. He has eaten snails, picks at everything and wont leave our feather duster alone. He climbs all over it and picks rather large chunks out of its tube. The blue legs we have just clean the tube gently and move on but he seems to want to destroy it. Any ideas?

It is not the right color but...From your discription on behavior, here is what I think it is..
From the picture the book provides...I can see your crab has the same kind of front claws..real fat..it is a different color....

 

[katsafados]

Couldnt it be the zebra hermit? Just overgrown?

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by Katsafados
http:///forum/post/3145734
Couldnt it be the zebra hermit? Just overgrown?

My book does not list a zebra hermit.

...maybe they are called that because of the coloring. My book seems to list the hermits according to size.
Here is all that are listed:

• Blue leg 0.75 in.
• red leg 2.5 in.
• Scarlet 1.5 in.
  Anemone Hermit 4 in.
  Giant hermit 12 in.

 

[s10lowrider]

Thanks for the help. We were thinking Zebra Crab as well although the pictures that we found do not look like him. He kinda looks like he has white and brown stripes. Were still looking around if you guys have any more suggestions please let us know. Thanks again!

 

[wargalley20011]

I have four of those hermit crabs that I picked up out of the water at the beach. One as big as yours, but dosn't have a nice shell like yours. The other three are smaller. After I put them in my tank. I put in some different size shells for them to play with.
They haven't harmed any of my turbo snails that I know of. I throw in some frozen chicken in the mornings, and frozen brine shrimp every two days as a treat. The snails, and hermit crabs track down the meat, and don't seemed to mind sharing with each other.

 

[thefishdoctor7]

Clibanarius vittatus, "Thin Stripe Hermit"
Eventually grows large (fist sized), so shouldn't be considered reef safe. Doesn't seem to bother corals but has been reported to eat feather dusters and snails. Make sure you have LARGE shells on hand. May do best in aggressive fish-only type tanks. These can survive in cooler temperature waters. They are often collected on beaches and piers in the south-eastern USA.
I have had some of these myself so I'm positive that they are what I've Said they are. Aside from this I've not been able to find much else about them.

 

[teresaq]

I was also going to say thin striped. Mine was fine when it was little, but had to banish to the sump when it got big.
T