Raffle surprise!

M

Misty

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[I was fortunate enough to win one of the Walt Smith Aquacultured specimens in the raffle. I guess I picked a "good" one, because upon further inspection the next day under full lighting, I found one of those adorable little acro crabs. So either he was a hitchhiker from Walt Smith's place, or from Brad's tank. Either way, he's really cool with blue eyes. Leave it to me to be all geeky over the little crab... :smart:]
 
[:grinning: I would have been pleased too.. It's great when you find little bonuses.. Congrats on both of your new aquisitions..]
 
[Is he kind of light colored with a black band across the front of his body? Or is he kind of dirty looking, like covered in a brown looking alge with blu eyes? All little crabs you find in acros are not Commensal crabs. Some are not good.]
 
[If he is furrie he's bad. That means he eats snails. The hair allures snails as though it were algae, allowing the crab to put it's claws up into the shell and remove the snail...grewsome. If he's hairy destroy it immediatly!]
 
[Hi Misty,

I saw quite a few "Acro" crabs in the heads that we had at the raffle. They are certainly a plus when they are present. I am glad you got one.]
 
@BrianC wrote:
[What does an "acro" crab do?] said:
[I watched a really neat thing about this on discovery's "secreats of the deep". It was all about the crabs of the reef.

Acro crabs have a symbiotic relationship with the acro. The crab pick at the acro and the acro slimes up, then the crab eats the slime or any other type of food that may become stuck in branches. So you ask what does the crab do for the acro? Well, there are certain starfish that fest on acros. The acro has no defense against the starfish, so whenever attacked the crabs come running out to protect their homes(acro). The bottom of the star fish is super sensitive. A few snips from the crabs and the starfish moves on.

There was a study done that show acros grow faster in the wild if they contain crabs, why? That I can't answer. Maybe it is the protection from the starfish or the crab constantly picking on the acro. In captivity I think they just look cool!


BTW I reccomend everyone watch that episode if not the entire series. There is tons of info and eye candy :)]
Click to expand...
 
[I thing the little buggers go about defending the acro that is thier home by being defnesive and actively cleaning and keeping the coral in good shape. IE detritus doesnt build up on the coral and if a predator comes along hte crab either attacks it or remove sit from the acro.

PS This could all be hot wind :)]
 
[Glenn, If mine have babies you can have one.. I have at least 2 in every acro I have, even 3 that only live in poccillipora or sentiporra.]
 
[Mitch,

Thanks that would be cool. I only have one SPS colony all others are frags. Guess I need to take a pic of it so I can find out what I got. :D]
 
[WOW, was I wrong. After further review, I have found 2 acro crabs!

Still have no idea what type of acro this is, picture to follow.

I will refer to my newly acquired (and autographed) copy of Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman.]
 
[At one time I bet I had around twenty of the little buggers. I still have alot, just not sure how many. I am not sure how long they live and I have never seen any signs of reproduction. They really do help keep the coral clean and help defend it. They will constanly preen the coral looking for thing to eat. And like someone said, they will prevent the coral from being filled with detrius and algae. I will tell you best ones have a little black bar across their eye area. They really are neat little crabs and I make a point of looking for sps that have them. But there are other little crabs that will actually live off of the coral and eats its polyps. They can kill a sps coral and if you find a crab that is eating the polyps. You need to take him out.]
 
[I'd be shocked if one could reproduce these in the typical reef tank. In their larval(that might not be the correct word) stages, the crabs almost assuredly have very specific dietary requirements, not likely to be found in most of our tanks. Similar to how peppermint shrimp or cleaner shrimp often spawn, release eggs, but nothing comes of it. Additionally, any released eggs/larva(sorry not up on crab biology) would most likely be snapped up as great food by fish etc....]
 
[Duane, yeah I agree. Thats why I think the number I have had seems to be going down. Unless I get more from another acro, there is no replacement for the ones that die off. Though I have heard that if you get a female she will make a nest in an acro. Where in the end she can not get out of it, the coral grows around her. And then males will travel to her to somehow fertilize her eggs. And then the babies hatch inside with her then they venture out. Do not know for sure though, if this is fact or heresay.]
 
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