Id this crab?

P

peterlin

[I found this crab lurking on top of my acro colonies. I cannot really see it eating the polyps of sps - but I have decided to remove it from the tank anyway and place it in the refugium. Anyone knows what this species may be? and if it is safe to sps?

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[That was a good idea Peter, I am pretty sure that is not a good crab for corals. They are not the same as those commensal crabs, that are beneficial. Steve also had one of those crabs that he took out of his reeftank. I have one also in my big purple humulis colony that so far I can not catch. For a certain I.D. on the crab post it on Dr. Shimek's forum on ReefCentral.com]
 
[Matt - evil eyes could be just the pictures. I put it in a plastic cup when taking this picture. I guess shallow tank has its advantage to catch unwanted guests.]
 
[No, it's quite large. About 1-1.5 inch wide. I had one that is about 2-3 inch. I found it died inside of montipora cap. I did not remove the dead crab - and a few weeks later - the dead crab shell left a dead spot on the montipora cap. This is inside of the montipora cap, so it did not bother me that much.]
 
[peter,, this is a AKA a gorilla crab,,, their main diet it algea but once your tank gets to clean.. watch out polyps.. I had 2 in my tank and fought for weeks to get them out..they are VERY strong and can knock big rocks over too.... refugium would be a good place for him.....]
 
[also,, in case you are missing any small fish or wonderingwhere the new holes are coming from in you LR.. this is the culprit...... does his claws look serated like knifes??]
 
[Dr. Ron said that it is "a xanthid crab. ... Xanthids are generally pretty destructive in reef tanks."

Yipee! :wwww:]
 
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