Id Another Hitchhiker Please - C R A B S

[zeo]

Hi guys,

Over the last 2/3 months since getting my LR, I've been slowly monitoring the progress of a small crab hitchhiker, who seems to reside in a perticular hole in one of my LR.

He has grown up quite alot over the last couple of months, but my sucess of taking pics of it have been pretty bad as majority of the time he only comes out at night. Any pics I have taken dont show the actual crab as its camoflages pretty well due to being the same colour as the LR. Usually half body at most, can always see a claw come out of the hole picking at the surounding algea.

Anyways, this morning I found this little bugger outside the LR. I'm sure its not the one I've been seeing around (so i must have alteast 2) as my norm one looks very similiar but has much larger claws.

Can anyone ID it for me please? Is it good and peaceful or bad?
I havent noticed any dead fishes yet, nip fins, no missing hermits, and boxer crab is also still around and doing well.

 

[zeo]

UPDATE: I thought since I will be out the rest of today, i might as well remove it form the tank whilst I Wait for your replies, and release back if its good.

But when I went to remove it, I noticed it is actually dead... dont know why. The other one is still alive in its little hole.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

You sure its dead and the one in the hole hasnt just molted?

 

[zeo]

claws are def alot smaller on this one then the one in the hole. Maybe it is just a shell.

No one has ideas on what it is? ...apart from the obvious 'its a crab'.

 

[Mr Flagfin]

looks like it could be a teddybear crab.
Kill it now, while you still have fish !!!!!

 

[Mr Flagfin]

looks like it could be a teddybear crab.
Kill it now, while you still have fish !!!!!

 

[zeo]

i dont think its a teddy bear crab, for one things its got hardly any hair on it.
The leg does have a few hairs on it, but other then that its completly bald, and smooth.

 

[rhysiboy]

hmm it seems that crabs are one of the most difficult thing to identify, i think mainly because there are so many and so many that look alike. I will have a loook around various sources and see if i can un-earth something at all.

 

[boshank23]

look up xanthid crabs, alot of crabs that coma as hitch hikers are from this genus.

 

[thefirethief]

Have you still got the molt? Why not take a close up picture of that, might help with ID?

 

[zeo]

bah... wish i thought of that eariler. I flushed it, along with a couple of hermit crab molts. But I dont think that was a molt, as I left in a jar with saltwater, and it started sinking up pretty bad. I didnt exp the same thing with ther hermit molts.The other one is still aroudn thru.xanthid crabs? r they good or bad?