Strange crabs out at night

JM68 · 03/20/2007, 10:23 PM

Tonight when i got home from work i decided to take out the flashlight and checkout my tank to see if there was anything new crawling around. Didn't c anything too spectacular just the normal little critters running around on the rocks, not quite sure what they all are, but i'm sure you all know what i'm talking about if you look at your tanks at night. There is all kinds of life out and about. The one thing that did startle me was two decent sized crabs. Identical to emerald crabs in shape and size, but with dark brown almost black shells and white fuzzy legs. Any ideas what they are or if they could be a danger to any of my corals or other inhabitants. It looked to me that they were picking food off the lr just like emeralds do so maybe they won't hurt anything. Just wondering if anybody else has these.

Vanquishxxxx · 03/20/2007, 10:51 PM

emerald grabs do come in red and with the lights off they could have appeared brown??

Snowboarda42 · 03/20/2007, 10:55 PM

thats what i was thinking. What color lighting did you use?

woo hoo 100th post

JM68 · 03/20/2007, 11:54 PM

I used a regular flashlight (white light). I'm almost positive they aren't emerald crabs. I have 2 emeralds and its definatly not them. The claws are very strait and pointy, where the emeralds have a curve to the ends of them and i'm pretty sure that i'm not mistaking the color, even in the dark. The texture also looks different. I guess i am gonna have to make some traps and try to catch them to get a positive ID.

DrBegalke · 03/20/2007, 11:57 PM

Sounds like gorilla crabs to me, a definatly bad hitchhiker if so.
http://www.tbsaltwater.com/thepackage/watchout.html

JM68 · 03/21/2007, 12:01 AM

Nope not a gorilla crab. Doesn't have a fuzzy body, just legs and much darker than that.

I forgot to include in the original post that besides being dark the body of the crab is also smooth and shiny.

Tang Salad · 03/21/2007, 01:31 AM

Here's a good rule of thumb for hitchhikers:

"If it's a crab, it is probably bad."

03/20/2007, 10:23 PM	#1
JM68 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 658	Strange crabs out at night Tonight when i got home from work i decided to take out the flashlight and checkout my tank to see if there was anything new crawling around. Didn't c anything too spectacular just the normal little critters running around on the rocks, not quite sure what they all are, but i'm sure you all know what i'm talking about if you look at your tanks at night. There is all kinds of life out and about. The one thing that did startle me was two decent sized crabs. Identical to emerald crabs in shape and size, but with dark brown almost black shells and white fuzzy legs. Any ideas what they are or if they could be a danger to any of my corals or other inhabitants. It looked to me that they were picking food off the lr just like emeralds do so maybe they won't hurt anything. Just wondering if anybody else has these.

03/20/2007, 10:55 PM	#3
Snowboarda42 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Warshington Posts: 1,094	thats what i was thinking. What color lighting did you use? woo hoo 100th post __________________ 40B Mixed Reef 100% Captive Grown Corals See, that's the trouble with the world today. Not enough danger to kill off stupid people before they get old enough to breed. Bring back lawn darts! -PrivateJoker64 Current Tank Info: 40B, 20L Sump/Fuge, Mag 9.5 Return, 2x Hydor Koralia #2's, 150W 14K HQI, 139W T-5, Euro-Reef RS-80P Mesh Modded, 40LB LR, 80LB LS, 54x Turnover, Mostly SPS, Some Softys Too.

03/20/2007, 11:57 PM	#5
DrBegalke Go Buckeyes! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Phoenix area, AZ Posts: 2,599	Sounds like gorilla crabs to me, a definatly bad hitchhiker if so. http://www.tbsaltwater.com/thepackage/watchout.html __________________ ~Jason Begalke Current Tank Info: Latest project: JBJ Cubey

03/21/2007, 01:31 AM	#7
Tang Salad Algae skeptic Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: 78702 Posts: 3,098	Here's a good rule of thumb for hitchhikers: "If it's a crab, it is probably bad." __________________ Your algae is not special. Current Tank Info: TBD ADA 120-P SPS NLPS

03/20/2007, 10:51 PM	#2
Vanquishxxxx Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Long Island Posts: 998	emerald grabs do come in red and with the lights off they could have appeared brown??

03/20/2007, 11:54 PM	#4
JM68 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 658	I used a regular flashlight (white light). I'm almost positive they aren't emerald crabs. I have 2 emeralds and its definatly not them. The claws are very strait and pointy, where the emeralds have a curve to the ends of them and i'm pretty sure that i'm not mistaking the color, even in the dark. The texture also looks different. I guess i am gonna have to make some traps and try to catch them to get a positive ID.

03/21/2007, 12:01 AM	#6
JM68 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 658	Nope not a gorilla crab. Doesn't have a fuzzy body, just legs and much darker than that. I forgot to include in the original post that besides being dark the body of the crab is also smooth and shiny.