Please ID this crab

[aquariumgirl]

I took this crab out of my 10 gallon today, but I'm not sure if this is a good crab or bad. Please help ID this thing. Also, I found another crab in the tank, from what I can see, it's a suspension feeder (has feather like hands like an anemone crab) and it's green or green/blue. Does anyone know what this is called? I didn't take it out cause I didn't think it would harm anything in the tank.

 

[Forestal]

Hi aquarium girl, the suspension feeder is a good one, a porcelain crab....this one above is tough, but chances are, not the best (i will defer to more expert)
most crabs are omnivores, so even tho they may eat algae/detritus, they may go for your sand bed critters or fish as they get bigger...(my emeralds steal food out of the guts of my sun corals)

my guess is a xanthid type crab, altho a red mithrax is also possible

 

[NaH2O]

Hmmm....hard to say what it is. Do you have a sump you can toss it in? I believe when it comes to IDing crabs, you have to look at the eyes, the bumps between the eyes, and the pincers. How big is it?

 

[MikeS]

Making a good ID on a crab like that is very difficult, many different species share very similar physical characteristics...

The vast majority of crabs are oppritunistic omnivores. This makes most of them unsuitable for the reef tank, because of their tendancy to munch on things we don't want them to. The best advice is to remove the crab, better safe than sorry....

MikeS

 

[Elmo18]

Hi. What color are the tips of the big pincers (chelas?) ? Also, are the appendages hairy?

- Elmo