Red Crab

[mp3z24]

Anyone know what this guy is?
about 1 inch in size.

http://www.geocities.com/rllrbldr19/Red_Crab.JPG

thanks,
~mike

 

[Hara]

strawberry crab?

 

[kimberly]

I have a strawberry crab and he is redder than that. Also not sure that the claws are that big, but it could just be the angle of the photo and my memory since our strawberry crab hides all the time and is rarely seen.

A strawberry crab looks just like an emerald crab, just red. (In fact the place I got ours had it listed as "red emerald crab".)

 

[weaverkb]

It's a type of porcelain crab. They're filter feeders.

 

[Fluff]

I agree it looks like a porcelain crab. Very pretty.

 

[mp3z24]

porcelain crab... confirmed. the crab will normally sit on the bottom of the branch rock i have in my QT and will flip its "nets" out to catch materials in the water... very neat to watch.

thanks for the compliment fluff. it is quite a nice crab to watch. every so often it will scurry about on the bottom of the tank, and even run up the walls 8O

~mike

 

[austinsdad]

Reef safe?

 

[mp3z24]

Reef safe?

according to liveaquaria, they are reef safe.

~mike

 

[twilyte]

that is a beaaauuutiful porcelain crab; mine is lavender-blue with orange on em.. so purty:>

 

[lesdotcom]

I also have a red crab I apparently received in some live rock. Anyone know what it is and is it reef safe?

 

[kimberly]

That is a cool looking crab! It looks like a spider. Sorry that I can't id it for you, but I had to comment on how neat it is!

 

[lesdotcom]

It didn't look too neat when it was eating my sea apple.

 

[Fluff]

I agree, that is an incredible looking crab but, I doubt it's reef safe. Probably not much of a threat while small but if you start finding empty snail shells around, or clam shells, he would be first suspect.

 

[steve r]

i have ( had ) several of those that. came with my live rock mine were more pinkish orange but the same crab. not reef safe. if you notice a snail in one place for a few days up against the rock, that crab is probably eating it. all the one i had ate snails. the last one i caught i put in the sump. he eats pellets now

steve r

 

[lesdotcom]

Any chance this guy could be taking out my fish? I had a good size Blue Tang die recently (looked like a shark attack!) for no apparent reason. Not sure if tail went missing after he died or was cause of death. It happened overnight. Also had 3 clowns die overnight about a week later. All 3 laying together at bottom of tank but no physical damage. That's when I found the crab munching on my sea apple. Again not sure if it died first or was attacked. They have all been together for over a year but the crab has gotten bigger.

Les

 

[Fluff]

Wow. That would have to be a pretty big crab to take down a blue tank. When did the crab munch on the sea apple? Sea apples are a type of cucumber and when stressed can put toxins in your water. If we could put together a time line, perhaps the problem may be found. Crabs for the most part are scavangers and like easy pickins like snails. But, yeah, a large enough crab could kill a fish.

 

[lesdotcom]

Hmmmm......the sea apple and the clowns went the same night. Maybe that would explain the clowns death with no physical wounds. Only thing left now is crab and coral banded shrimp. And come to think about it he lost an arm that same night!

 

[Fluff]

In a closed system, it's lucky anything survived. How long before that tang died did this happen?

 

[lesdotcom]

The tang went a week or two before the rest.