WOW...tell me what this is.

stevedave08

stevedave08

Member
My neighbor just came back from the beach and brought me a couple of things he caught. I have identified a couple of the things he brought. I got a couple of regular shrimp, a Florida blue crab about the size of a dime and a couple of other things I cant identify...here are some pics...help me out if you can.
These first two pics are of a fish he caught in some caulerpa that was floating about 30 feet out from shore. It looks like a frogfish/anglerfish, but I cant really tell what species. There are so many!


This other thing, I seriously have no idea what it is. It is crablike, but shaped more like an armadillo than a crab. Maybe a variation of a horseshoe crab I've never seen. It's still alive and floating in a baggie in my tank right now, but I want to know what it is before I decide to keep him.
Front/side shot

Front/side shot

Back/side shot

To put it into perspective, the fish is about the size of a nickel if not smaller and the "crab" is about 2 inches long and half a inch thick. His shell appears to be cracked in several places and my buddy found it crawling in the sand so I imagine it burrows and people had stepped on it. Very much alive though, and I'm sure would be fine after molting as far as the shell goes. Thanks for any help...if you need more pics let me know and I'll take some.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
The 2nd one looks like one of those sand sifting crabs....swf sold them once...I had some...they lasted a couple of weeks and that was it.
The 1st does look like some sort of frogfish from pics I have seen...do you have a special tank for this??
 
stevedave08

stevedave08

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3050012
The 2nd one looks like one of those sand sifting crabs....swf sold them once...I had some...they lasted a couple of weeks and that was it.
The 1st does look like some sort of frogfish from pics I have seen...do you have a special tank for this??
No, Just my 75 gallon...that's why they're not loose in it right now. I don't have a "safety" tank yet.
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
the second is a sea flea or sand sifting crab and yes swf sells them
The second is an angler I think-Pm Cranberry, she is pretty good with those types of fish-Nice looking by the way.
T
If you decide not to keep the fish, let me know ok. its pretty cool looking.
 
stevedave08

stevedave08

Member
Originally Posted by TeresaQ
http:///forum/post/3050021
the second is a sea flea or sand sifting crab and yes swf sells them
The second is an angler I think-Pm Cranberry, she is pretty good with those types of fish-Nice looking by the way.
T
If you decide not to keep it, let me know ok.
Yea, I figured the crab was a sifter....I'm gonna let him loose. The fish I'm still trying to acclimate and stabilize. My neighbor was home from the beach about an hour before he even called me and the fish was breathing very heavily, but seems much better now and actually ate a mysis I threw into his bag. I'm pretty sure he's an angler/frog, just don't know the species. I'll take a couple more pics of him, just in case he doesn't make it, although I'm pretty sure he'll be fine(you never know though).
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
Do you have a 5 gal bucket. put it in there with a small filter or even an air line, or since its so small, get a breeder net and stick it on the side of your tank.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
Niiiiiice.... that's a Sargassum Angler. Histrio histrio.
I would not put that crab in my tank though. And the angler can eat (or attempt to eat) things that are bigger than itself.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
+1 toss the crab. Looks like the angler can get to about 6 inches. Probably gonna have to be a species type tank as Cranberry said it will or at least try to gobble up just about anything fish wise.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
i put two sand sifting crabs in and never saw them again. don't know if they are still there or not.
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
We call them sand crabs in Jersey .. just dig in the sand near the waterline and we get plenty.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/3050189
i put two sand sifting crabs in and never saw them again. don't know if they are still there or not.
LOL...I had bought the 5 from swf...Like I said they last a couple of weeks, then I noticed empty shells
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3050275
LOL...I had bought the 5 from swf...Like I said they last a couple of weeks, then I noticed empty shells

You know they molt like regular crabs-They may still be there, under the sand.

T
 
stevedave08

stevedave08

Member
I've had the florida blue crab in a plastic container in my tank for a coiuple of days and i just thought about something. Are they reef safe or will they eat corals? I'm gonna get rid of it anyway, but I thought it was an interesting question.
 
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