what the heck is it?

[edmsalt]

i have a 50G Saltwater tank that has clowns, invertebrates and corals. Surprisingly, i have had this tank for 8 months now, and I found this freaky crablike creature in one of my LR holes.
From what I could see of it, it hides in the cave, has a big claw (like a crab), has the body of a spider-looking creature, has no shell, likes to be in the darker areas of the tank... Does anybody have any idea as to what it is?
I havent fed this thing in 8 months, so Im also wondering what the heck it eats?

 

[pbienkiewi]

Picture..........?

 

[celacanthr]

have some of your corals been missing?

 

[ssweet1]

Sounds like a pistol shrimp, they have one claw that is big and they can eat holes in your rock to hide in. I had one and he had a gate fortress to his hole made up of snail shells and frag pieces. I finally caught him in the rock he was living in. They mainly come out at night. Carrie

 

[benter]

what did you do with the pistol shrimp..I have 4 in one of my tanks, and we just love them...always popping at something ...my kids enjoy them tremendously...

 

[pbienkiewi]

I have seen post on here were no one sees their pistol shrimp. I have a tiger who I see several times a day. he does a lot of digging and plowing.
I don't think he has a pistol because he never mentioned about all his gravel being moved around

 

[edmsalt]

thanks for the info. However, I know for sure that it isnt a pistol shrimp. This "creature" has more of a tarantula look, with a claw. I will try to take a picure of it next time I see it, but the darned thing seems to hide ALL the time. I've also tried to look him up in books etc, but no luck. (At first, we thought it could have been a spider crab, but in looking at some pictures in books, doesnt seem to be a fit). So, i guess no answers for me yet.

 

[debjgardin]

By any chance is this creature kind of whitish and fuzzy? The reason I ask is I have something in my tank that looks like a tarantula, hides in the rocks very adeptly and I've only been able to catch glimpses of it cause it's also very quick to shoot under a rock or in a hole. Haven't been able to get a picture of it to post yet, have tried, but it obviously isn't very sociable. No this thing doesn't look like the pistol shrimp pictures that were posted. Best description is that it truly does look like a tarantula, fuzzy and whitish with a claw that is broader across than my anemone crab's, had considered maybe it was some sort of crab that was molting, but not really sure that's the case. But my hunch is that it is not a nice thing to have in your tank, cause two of my feather dusters were obviously consumed. Will be setting up a trap to hopefully catch it, if I succeed will post a picture and see if anyone can identify it, cause I'm at a loss as to what it is. :notsure:

 

[edmsalt]

i think deb, has it correctly labelled.... I can see his response to resemble everything that I see in my "creature" also. I sure hope this thing is a good thing, and not a bad thing. I highly doubt that I will be able to take a pix anytime soon, since this darned thing is always hiding.
any thoughts as to how to proceed in catching/taking picture/ etc....

 

[edmsalt]

look forward to seeing some pix from you deb..

 

[debjgardin]

I'm still working on trying to get not only a picture of the darn thing, but get it out of my tank. I took and flipped the rock it's hiding in upside down hoping to catch a better view of it and hopefully snag it with a net and all I saw was one hairy leg rapidly going in the hole on the underside of the rock, evidentally it has a cave in the middle that it calls it's home. Whatever this thing is, my hunch a crab, is extremely shy. My green star coral has been nibbled on so far and my feather worms made a delicious meal, so it's time for me to get serious about getting it out of my tank. The traps I ordered have finally come, so will try to bait it out, will see.... have some reservations on the traps though. Will try shrimp first, any other suggestions for bait are more than welcome. I'm hoping that the critter in question ends up in the trap, but knowing my luck lately, it'll be one of the others that belong in my tank. By the way, my lfs suggested that I hunker down after dark and watch the tank with a flashlight with a red lense. Their logic being that the tank inhabitants would not be able to see the light. I can tell you quite honestly that my fish could in fact see the light and rather enjoyed the show. I could swear the blenny was chuckling while saying dumb human and quite honestly the blenny was right. So I'm still working the problem.