identify bad/good crab

[miek]

The other day, I noticed this crab in my reef tank. I quick got some pics and posted them at this link: crab pictures
It is about 1.5-2 inches. Any help on indentifing this crab and also if he is good or bad.
Mike

 

[txduckhunter]

pictures not that clear when blown up. Looks like a sally lightfoot

 

[ebeckels]

it's hard to see the crab to be honest...maybe a sally light foot...too hard to tell though
-eric

 

[miek]

I know that it isn't a sally-light foot, I have one in my other tank, so I know those I think you might have been looking at the crab in the sand. that one is blurry. I circled the crab in the picture with a green outline, check it out, hopefully it will help.

 

[miek]

Let me try to describe it with words. Its has the same body structure as an emerald crab. But big difference though, this guy is really "hairy." His legs are extermely "hairy" His color is of a cream skin like color. His craws are black. Hope that helps out.

 

[iceburg98]

I've been told (don't know how true this is though) - if it has black claws, get it out of there...
Of course the guy who told me this is paranoid of any crab and won't put any in his tank...

 

[mal]

This is also hear say, but I've been told a general rule of thumb is if it appears to be "hairy" critter it is probably not good for a reef. Other than that I have no clue, sorry.

 

[nw nick]

Just saw your message and have the same "problem" I put in a fresh load of rock in my tank about 1 year ago. A few months later discovered two of these specimens and an emerald crab. Not knowing where or what they were other than kinda scary looking I left them in. I have not seen the emerald for some time now but the other two are still around and I have not noticed any damage other than some disapearing shrimp. I have seen them scraping the rocks but not attacking anything else. I agree with you that they have the same size, shape, and pinchers as the emerald but different color. So what are they? Don't know.

 

[nw nick]

Just saw your message and have the same "problem" I put in a fresh load of rock in my tank about 1 year ago. A few months later discovered two of these specimens and an emerald crab. Not knowing where or what they were other than kinda scary looking I left them in. I have not seen the emerald for some time now but the other two are still around and I have not noticed any damage other than some disapearing shrimp. I have seen them scraping the rocks but not attacking anything else. I agree with you that they have the same size, shape, and pinchers as the emerald but different color. So what are they? Don't know.

 

[nw nick]

Just saw your message and have the same "problem" I put in a fresh load of rock in my tank about 1 year ago. A few months later discovered two of these specimens and an emerald crab. Not knowing where or what they were other than kinda scary looking I left them in. I have not seen the emerald for some time now but the other two are still around and I have not noticed any damage other than some disapearing shrimp. I have seen them scraping the rocks but not attacking anything else. I agree with you that they have the same size, shape, and pinchers as the emerald but different color. So what are they? Don't know.

 

[nw nick]

Just saw your message and have the same "problem" I put in a fresh load of rock in my tank about 1 year ago. A few months later discovered two of these specimens and an emerald crab. Not knowing where or what they were other than kinda scary looking I left them in. I have not seen the emerald for some time now but the other two are still around and I have not noticed any damage other than some disapearing shrimp. I have seen them scraping the rocks but not attacking anything else. I agree with you that they have the same size, shape, and pinchers as the emerald but different color. So what are they? Don't know.

 

[maxx]

Miek, Ive had the same hairy crab in my tank ever since I added my LR. Rumor has it that it is a "Teddy Bear Crab". Ive stabbed mine like 3-4 times now, trying to rid of him. He hasnt hurt anything yet, but I dont like unidenified critters in my tank. Try a search on a really good search engine, yahoo only shows sites for teddy bear beanie babies
Maxx

 

[piscesblue]

That sounds like a crab my LFS was selling as a emerald crab. They look identical other than the color. When I first got my emerald, he was just as hairy as your pics, but it went away after a few months.

 

[jonthefb]

I actually had one of these in my reef tank, but didnt notice it until; we were tearing the rock down. Needless to say it scared teh piss outta me and also had one of my anthias in its claws and jaws. I did some research on it and the closest thing i could find was that it was a relative of the arrow crab that many of us have in our tanks, I looked in Baensch's Marine Atlas, and i could only find that it was some kind of spider crab. Nevertheless, after seing it with my anthia in its jaws it was outta there like a fat kid in dodgeball!. Hope this helps
jon

 

[jmsullivan]

I don't know what kind of crab it is but in the past I had have had 2 hitchicker crabs from live rock. One didn't do much (no hair)but the other one was small and hairy, it almost wiped out a colony of mushrooms in 2 weeks, my mushrooms were 3" across and that critter tore one up almost every night.I went from 14 to 2, I finially caught him and got rid of him and now I'm regenerating whats left of the mushrooms. .