Hitchhiker id

[robotman]

[IMG][/IMG]

alright ive known this crab h as been in here for months but he was really small when I saw him, he seems to have doubled in size in a week O_O he was maybe the size of a quarter 2-3 weeks ago but now looks like the size of a half dollar.

id? he has black claws white tips, hairy legs purple/red eyes. he doesn't seem to bother anything, I only see him scraping at the rocks. and he I found him near my hammer corals once but nothing ever seemed out of place.

[FTDelta]

Pointy claws, hairy legs = gorilla crab. Not reef safe. Trap him and put him in your sump if you have one

[MARINECRITTERS]

Looks like a species of Mithrax, hard to tell though.
Some people say they are good, others say they are bad.
If everything in the tank seems fine, leave it alone.
Just keep an eye on it.

[robotman]

Originally Posted by FTDelta

Pointy claws, hairy legs = gorilla crab. Not reef safe. Trap him and put him in your sump if you have one

damnit I cant find him now.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Originally Posted by MARINECRITTERS

Looks like a species of Mithrax, hard to tell though.
Some people say they are good, others say they are bad.
If everything in the tank seems fine, leave it alone.
Just keep an eye on it.

I'm changing my mind...looks like mithrax claws.

[devimik]

Yeah, the claw looks flattened on the tips, like an Emerald or Mithrax. I'd leave it and keep an eye on it when you can.

[robotman]

Originally Posted by devimik

Yeah, the claw looks flattened on the tips, like an Emerald or Mithrax. I'd leave it and keep an eye on it when you can.

I had 4 emerald crabs, I haven't seen them in a while, but now its just this guy O_O, deff doesn't look like any of my emerald crabs

[FTDelta]

You descibed it has hairy legs. That's a gorilla crab. Plant a trap with bait at night.

[devimik]

Originally Posted by FTDelta

You descibed it has hairy legs. That's a gorilla crab. Plant a trap with bait at night.

First of all, Emerald Crabs have hairy legs, so not all crabs with hairy legs are bad. Also, the claw in the pic doesn't look to have sharp tips, but flattened tips like a Mithrax crab, which is what Emeralds are. So, to be safe, OP can try to catch it and put it in the sump, but I'd probably leave it and watch out for it's behavior.

[GroktheCube]

Keep an eye on him OP. I have a hitch hiker crab that's been in my tank for ages with small, blunt claws that I'm not too concerned about. It eats algae from rocks, and occasionally crabs some uneaten food. I may still pull it at some point.

The claws on your crab look a good bit bigger, but also look blunt. It's USUALLY the crabs with sharp, pointy claws that are more predatory, though all are opportunists.

[robotman]

Originally Posted by devimik

First of all, Emerald Crabs have hairy legs, so not all crabs with hairy legs are bad. Also, the claw in the pic doesn't look to have sharp tips, but flattened tips like a Mithrax crab, which is what Emeralds are. So, to be safe, OP can try to catch it and put it in the sump, but I'd probably leave it and watch out for it's behavior.

Originally Posted by GroktheCube

Keep an eye on him OP. I have a hitch hiker crab that's been in my tank for ages with small, blunt claws that I'm not too concerned about. It eats algae from rocks, and occasionally crabs some uneaten food. I may still pull it at some point.

The claws on your crab look a good bit bigger, but also look blunt. It's USUALLY the crabs with sharp, pointy claws that are more predatory, though all are opportunists.

yeah it has blunt claws, they point inwards toward each other and are flat, he doesn't do anything besides sit on this rock and scrape algae, I see him right now O_O, when I first saw him he was sitting in a hole scraping rock, then I saw him near the gsp in it scrapping rock, and now hes on the same hole scraping the rock O_O really cool looking crab, and yeah my emerald crabs used to have hairy legs, they used to be a hell of a lot meaner then this guy towards my fish.

[Reeferz412]

It definitely sounds like an emerald crab. My emerald crab was tiny when I got it. It's huge now (body is the size of a quarter) and it lost most of its green color. Looks washed out amlost. All it does is scrap the rock and mow down hair algae.

[robotman]

Originally Posted by Reeferz412

It definitely sounds like an emerald crab. My emerald crab was tiny when I got it. It's huge now (body is the size of a quarter) and it lost most of its green color. Looks washed out amlost. All it does is scrap the rock and mow down hair algae.

if that's my emerald crab 1 of the 4 I did have, then he got hugeeee for 8 months, and he has black front claws now O_O

[robotman]

Originally Posted by FTDelta

Pointy claws, hairy legs = gorilla crab. Not reef safe. Trap him and put him in your sump if you have one

Originally Posted by MARINECRITTERS

Looks like a species of Mithrax, hard to tell though.
Some people say they are good, others say they are bad.
If everything in the tank seems fine, leave it alone.
Just keep an eye on it.

Originally Posted by Reeferz412

It definitely sounds like an emerald crab. My emerald crab was tiny when I got it. It's huge now (body is the size of a quarter) and it lost most of its green color. Looks washed out amlost. All it does is scrap the rock and mow down hair algae.

Originally Posted by GroktheCube

Keep an eye on him OP. I have a hitch hiker crab that's been in my tank for ages with small, blunt claws that I'm not too concerned about. It eats algae from rocks, and occasionally crabs some uneaten food. I may still pull it at some point.

The claws on your crab look a good bit bigger, but also look blunt. It's USUALLY the crabs with sharp, pointy claws that are more predatory, though all are opportunists.

Originally Posted by devimik

First of all, Emerald Crabs have hairy legs, so not all crabs with hairy legs are bad. Also, the claw in the pic doesn't look to have sharp tips, but flattened tips like a Mithrax crab, which is what Emeralds are. So, to be safe, OP can try to catch it and put it in the sump, but I'd probably leave it and watch out for it's behavior.

found the name for it! someone posted on my other thread.

Pilodius sp harmless algae grazer

[devimik]

Well, Pilodius is a Xanthid crab and, from what I've read, they can be trouble. No crabs are completely reef safe as they are totally opportunistic feeders. I've read of Emeralds and Ruby crabs going wild on corals, but mine has been a model citizen. For me, it's a risk I'll take. I doubt seriously that a crab with flattened claw tips can successfully catch a healthy fish, so I'd still probably keep it and watch it, but do some searches on Xanthids and you might choose to put it in the sump.