Id On Crab

[xxBarneyxx]

Can anyone ID this crab. He came in with my first lot of LR and was really small to start with. He is now about 1-1.5" across, he has bright purple claws and very pretty light green spots.

So far he has left the fish, shrimp and corals alone and just eats algae, would like to know what he is though.

Picture isnt great unfortunetly.

 

[SkiFletch]

Tough to say, pic's a little blurry, I'd love to see it's claws more clearly... Usually predatory versions have sharp pointed claws with teeth between their pincers, algae eaters tend to have rounded pincers and rounded teeth between them. Definitely a rock crab of some sort though.

 

[chrissaysyes]

There's not a whole lot of interest in ID'ing small crabs as theyre not very highly sought after in either aquariums or restaurants so it may be difficult to find out exactly what he is. Like ski said, that's definitely some sort of rock crab...if he's not bothering fish or corals then I'd keep him around. You could always pretend he's a new species all together and name him...crabicus mysterio

 

[xxBarneyxx]

You could always pretend he's a new species all together and name him...crabicus mysterio

LMAO. Really shouldnt have read that while I was on the phone doing a support call

 

[littleme1969]

ROFL.. @Crabicus
What ever he is hes pretty cool looking First time Ive seen a purple and green one on any reef forum
He looks like 2 that I have but the colours of mine are black and white. White claws with a black body and legs and white spots. They too are quite small , never bother anything and just scavange or pick at rock work. Id ed as reef friendly on a specialist forum

 

[chrissaysyes]

innocent until proven guilty