need id on this crab

[apolyom]

sorry for the poor quality.... i had to resort to a camera phone (no batteries for digi) if you cant tell its a hair black/dark brown crab. i got 2 of these from the LR i got today that i have seen so far and also another crab hiding in a hole but from what i have seen it looks different. will try and get a pic of him when he comes out.

 

[fedukeford]

the body shape makes it look a lot like a emerald crab, what color is it? is it hairy?

 

[apolyom]

as i said....... its a hairy black/brown crab and i noticed it had a couple of white spots

 

[swim]

sally lightfoot, maybe cant really see

 

[renogaw]

its not a sally light foot. if the claws are sorta cupped instead of sharp it is a mythrax crab, cousins to emerald crabs. beneficial if they don't take over the tank like mine are doing right now.

 

[apolyom]

well from what i can see he appears to pull pieces of the LR off and eats them.... is this a good or bad thing?

 

[92protruck]

I think I have one of those...came small like yours in a candycane coral. Mine eats off the LR and loves red stringy algae. I have never seen it mess with any snails, shrimp, etc. The only problem is he is now about the size of my fist and knocks over everything that isn't glued down. He will drag all 2-3 lbs rocks into his cave. Everyday I have new tank! Last nite he killed my candycane by dropping a rock on it!

 

[nigerbang]

Maybe a Rock Crab perhaps...

 

[apolyom]

got the digi cam working so i got some clear shots of them.
also here is a pic of the damage they seem to be doing to my LR should i keep them? are they algae feeders? or menace's?

 

[apolyom]

well i figured they were bad crabs seeing as they were destroying my rock. so i caught 1 of them but the second one still eludes me.
also can anyone ID the crab yet?

 

[renogaw]

can you take a pic of it outside your tank, in your hand or in a platic bowl? it really blends in well with the rock. also, try to get a pic of its pinsers.

 

[apolyom]

yeah i caught one of them so i'll take a pic of it tonight for you
they have eaten nearly all the purple off my LR so i'd guess im pretty safe in saying they are BAD!!!!