Please post crab pics!

wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
For quite a while now, I've had problems with hermits dying. Every now and then I'll find one dead in the sand bed. I blamed it on my grean brittlestar and placed him intime out in my fuge. Since then though, I found another dead hemit.
SOOOO> Being as it's only hermits and my snails and conch's and everybody else are fine and dandy, I think it might be this little hitchicker crab I've had for some time living in the holes of my LR. Problem is, I cant get a pic of him as I've only seen him a few times and he retreats really fast into the rock. Also, the murdering occurs only at night(wich is when I've seen him). I've searched and searched and to no avail have been able to identify this guy. If any of you have pics of crabs you could post or point to here I (and my hermit population) would greatly apprectiate it.

This guy is brown with short bulky claws I believe.Body is shaped similar to an emerald crab, but stubby claws.
Thank you!
Charlie
 
J

jesses89

Guest
crabs usually shed there exoskeleton no? they leave it out in the open(sandbed)... to distract predators while they are hiding somewhere in your tank waiting for there new shell to harden.
maybe thats it? they arent dying at all?
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
OK so I put on a mask, grabbed a regulator and speargun and here he is.... OH, wake up dummy, uhhhhh, I got a red LED light and a steak knife and here he is. Can anybody ID this guy? He's a gonner but I'd like to know if he might be the serial hermit killer. Looks like his claws are pointy to me and he's about the same size as some of the hermits that have moved on to the great reef in the sky. But I dunno.... he's only about 1/2" or so. I think he's some kinda xanthid crab.... :thinking:

 
J

jrthomas40

Guest
gah....crabs are so ugly!!!!....the worst are probably shame face and spider crabs
 
d0 thy d3w

d0 thy d3w

Member
near where i live..like..if i drive out to the puget sound..all over in the kelp are theses really ugly crabs...i think theyre spiders..not sure tho....theyre really ugly and often a brownish to greenish color..sum are small and sum quite menacingly big...their carpaces are pretty small but they have long slender legs and pinchers!! ya gotta be kinda careful when u pick them up...theyre the only crabs i know of that can reach way under themselves and give u a nice "handshake" lol
 
stang5_o

stang5_o

Member
Originally Posted by puffer32
Hmmmmmmmmm short stubby claws? Sounds like an algae eating crab :thinking:
By the looks of things i'd say your right. Probably harmless and ended up in the wrong tank at the wrong time.
 
anonome

anonome

Active Member
If you don't have enough hermit crab shells for them to relocate when larger, they will attack and kill for a new shell. My hermits attacked my nassarius snails relentlessly until I bought a bunch of empty shells. I have even seen larger hermits kill smaller hermits. Why? I don't know, certainly not for their shell. Definately survival of the fittest!!!
Since the claws of the crab were stubby, I honestly don't think he was the killer. Sorry.
 
birdmom

birdmom

Member
Originally Posted by stang5_o
By the looks of things i'd say your right. Probably harmless and ended up in the wrong tank at the wrong time.

There is no such thing as a Reef safe crab. All crabs are omnivores & diet is opportunistic.
I still think Sponge crab as it looks as if it's claws have red tips. It is not the same as the more common decorator or spider crab.
I would post a pic but cannot find one that won't infringe on copyright.
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Well I tried to get some help so this wouldn't happen. He was tucked into a hole in some rock and his claws appeared to be pointy. I read somewhere that with crabs it's better to be safe than sorry. There are tons of shells in my tank.
 
birdmom

birdmom

Member
Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
Well I tried to get some help so this wouldn't happen. He was tucked into a hole in some rock and his claws appeared to be pointy. I read somewhere that with crabs it's better to be safe than sorry. There are tons of shells in my tank.
Your crab is NOT a hermit.. it has no real need for empty shells other than hunger or dominance..
Regardless of the true identity... what to do with it is up to the individual..
Perhaps you could purchase a 5gal or smaller tank to keep it in?
That is what seems to happen in my home... My overly sensitive child guilts me into keeping everything (good or bad) & this has led our home to be over run by nano tanks everywhere.. We have vacation critter tanks that are more than 5 yrs old....
Take Care, Birdmom
PS.. still think it is a sponge crab...
 
wattsupdoc

wattsupdoc

Active Member
Well I know it's not a hermit. And he got the knife to get him out. If I coulda gotten him out alive I woulda put him in my fuge. What kinda crab he is is not illrelivant (sp) in that ID may indicate that he may have been a cause for the hermits deaths, so I can take the blame off my GBS.
Happy Holidays!
Charlie
 
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