please identify

[tbrock]

I have had my tank set up for almost eight months and i have looked all over it a lot at night and have never seen anything like this. i just moved my rock around earlier today. i looked in my tank under the moonlights and saw someting that looked like a crab. i turned on the tank light to see what it would do. it came all the way out on a rock so i could see its face. it was about 1.5" to 2" long. it was black and looked like it had three legs on each side, and possibly to claws in front. it had bright red eyes spread really far apart and a mouth in between. i went to get the camera but it had disapeared so i dont have any pictures. i thought maybe it was a mantis shrimp, but now im not so sure. Does anyone know what this could be? sorry it's so long.

 

[saltcreep1025]

dont mean to sound rude, but there is a forum specifically for IDs.

 

[mjvincent]

Here is a picture of a mantis

 

[tbrock]

thanks for the picture, but thats not it. im going to try to get a picture later, then maybe it will be easier to identify.

 

[Fluff]

Maybe some type of lobster. A pic is a good idea.

 

[tbrock]

I dont think its a lobster either, it looks like some type of crab to me. i can see it hiding under a rock now, but not i cant get a good pic of it. hopefully it will come out again tonight.

 

[tbrock]

Ok i got a pic, but its pretty blury. ill post it as soon as i figure out how...until then does anyone have a picture of a black mythrax crab? if there is such a thing.

 

[Fluff]

There is a black mythrax crab. I don't have a pic but the lfs I go to has or at least had one that was about three inches across.

 

[tbrock]

I think that may be what it is, but ill have that picture posted by tomorrow. Do mythrax crabs usually hide all the time. this is the first time i have seen this crab in my tank. thanks for the help.

 

[Fluff]

I think that would depend on the crab. The one at the lfs wasnt' shy at all but I've had green ones that hid. At least while they were small.

 

[tbrock]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=7741

theres the pic, sorry its so blurry.

 

[Fluff]

Check this link. The first crab pic (not the one in the index but the next one), does this look like your crab? It's the closest I could find to your picture. Unfortunately, I have no idea what it is. There is a second pic of one farther down where Fenner doesn't know either. (so I feel better about not knowing. lol )I'd keep an eye on it, or to be safe, remove it. If you have a sump or fuge, that would be a good place to put him. Good luck.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/swcrabidfaqs.htm

 

[tbrock]

Yeah thats it. Definatley not a mythrax crab then? I dont know what ill do, hes been in here a long time and has never done anything...thanks for the link.

 

[Fluff]

Nope, not a mythrax. If you decide not to remove him, I'd just keep a watchful eye on him. Good luck.

 

[tbrock]

I have decided to catch him and move him to my ten gallon tank where i can watch him closer. I plan on just trying to get him with a net when he comes out at night, but he is always right by the hole he hides in and im not sure i will be able to catch him. Is there any easier way to catch him?

 

[tbrock]

I found the crab hiding in the hole of a rock so i took the rock out and acclimated the entire rock to my ten gallon tank because he wold not come out. i put the rock in the tank and turned the lights of. I went in later and looked into the tank with a flashlight and saw him sitting in the middle of the sand bed by one of my fish. I turned the tank lights on and he walk to the opposite side of the tank and began to sink into the sand until he had completely barried him self. It was a pretty entertaining thing to watch.