What the..?

tur4k

Member
I noticed some movement in a cave in the wee-hours of the morning. I grabbed a flashlight to check it out. It turned out to be this crazy looking thing. Is it an emerald crab? Is what ever it is going to rein destruction upon my reef?


 

spanko

Active Member
Not all emeralds are reef safe. Many examples of them causing harm to both coral and other inhabitants.
That doesn't look like an emerald to me. Best bet is to look at the claws. Are they very pointed at the end? If so probably something you want to get out as these types of claws are for picking at things like snails and are pointed to get into small places to get the food out.
If they are more rounded at the end then they may just be herbivores and you may be able to keep them as long as there is algae and stuff for them to munch on.
IMO though all crabs are evil opportunistic creatures and I keep them out of my tank, with the exception of the Red Legged Reef Hermits.
 

tur4k

Member
Sorry about the quality of the pictures. He is inside of a cave here and this was the only angle that I could get. He disappeared deeper into the rock as I was taking these pictures. I've only seen him this one time and that was at 5:00 AM with all of the lights out in the house except for my lunars.
Do rock/stone crabs make noise? Lately I've been hearing some clicking that doesn't sound like my pistol. Not as loud as the pistol usually is and in rapid succession. I'm starting to think I have a Mantis hiding in there as well.
 

cranberry

Active Member
Does he look like kindda fuzzy all over, like a teddy bear, or is that just the way that last pics look?
 

pezenfuego

Active Member
What a bad picture...you mean to tell me that you couldn't get the crab to pose properly?
I kid, I kid. That picture isn't bad at all.
Originally Posted by ashley84
http:///forum/post/3251881
id get it out i had an emerald in my reef tank that was eating my corals..specifically my acans!

[hr]
!
I used to have a huge emerald crab that ate nothing but algae. I agree with Spanko, not all emerald crabs are created equally.
I also agree that that looks like a stone crab. Emerald crabs have a pretty distinct shell shape and I have never seen one that color or that build before.
You might want to try making a trap. Be careful though, if your fish are stupid, you might accidentally catch one of them...
 
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