I need a ID of this crab

[kimo4848]

What kind of crab is this? Is this crab bad news for my reef tank? I was watching my tank and a snail came out of the sand which I like to watch and this crab came running out and atacked the snail. I grabbed my net and caught him. What do I do with him now, he is kind of neat looking but he is not going back in the tank.

Thanks

 

[TauntingTony]

Get A stick of butter and fry him up.

 

[kimo4848]

Not much meat there yet but thats a good idea.

 

[mattleycrue76]

Not to hijack your thread but I recently saw something similar in my tank. Same shape but white and a little larger than my thumbnail. Just caught a fleeting glimpse of him moving into a piece of liverock. Right now I think he's too small to cause a lot of mischief but when he gets bigger who knows?

 

[kimo4848]

This one is about 1.5", I put him in my sump for now. I've been losing a lot of snails lately and my frags have been knocked around also.

 

[Haji4]

I now have 2 of them and they are bad news. Stone crabs and they have been destroying my live rock. I moved them with their rock to my Fish only tank and I cant wait for my Rectangular Humu to arrive. They will make a nice meal.

 

[mattleycrue76]

How do they destroy live rock?

 

[Haji4]

Here is a pic of mine and of the damage they can cause. I am not sure but I think they snip it off with their pinchers and then move it out. I have one more rock in my reef that I need to replace so I can get the second one out. I remove them with their rock. I guess if they destroy their entire rock then there is no place left to hide. The one in the pic is in a fish only tank.

 

[kimo4848]

Thats what I have alright. It was funning because my wife and I was watching the crab and she was just saying that there is no way you are going to catch him. Then he went for the snail in the sand and he was so busy with the snail I grabbed the net and got him and he didn't even know what happened. The snail is safe. We were both laughed because it happened so fast.

 

[mmn_usn]

Sump sounds like a good home for him.

 

[lizardarm]

http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/hitchcrabs.html

Check the link above. I've seen them called Gorilla Crabs, Fijian Rock Crabs, Stone Crabs,... they are Xanthid Crabs. Generally considered to be not good in our aquariums. They don't eat the rock, they're scraping the coralline algae off of it. They are quite strong little buggers and can (will) tip over rocks and corals. It's kind of hit or miss with them; I've got some that don't seem to be completely predatory (although they will steal food from my corals) but it's probably a matter of time and hunger with them as they are oppertunists more than anything else.

 

[KrautBurner]

I put him in my sump for now.

that was gonna be my suggestion