Hitchhiker crab ate my red hermit crab!

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zenn

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Dec 25, 2004
Messages
697
Location
Nebraska
I added a bunch of scarlet hermits to my main tank the other day. Today, I see one of the hitchhiker crabs with what appears to be an entire hermit crab out of the shell. It did not look like a molted shell as he was eating the meat and such. I asked a few weeks ago what kind of crab he was and nobody knew. This is what he looks like:

img_526126_0_ad6e5ce2505c3c6749e282835ae43154.jpg


The reason i think it's a real hermit he was eating is because as he was eating it, i could see the white tissue/meat he was picking out of it and eating. I don't think molted shells have tissue/meat in them. Plus, it looked like the entire thing, backside and all of the hermit. It didn't look like the molted shells i'd see many times before. So my question is, what is he and how do i get him out of there? I dont' think he'll be easy to catch....

I'm really worried that he's just going to start picking off the hermits one by one as they come into his territory.
 
Try a glass tilted up on a rock with bait in the bottom. If the crab is not to big get a xterminator trap. Sometimes quick hands work. I have caught a few that way. Especially at dusk.
 
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