Red Crab ID

[Reef Goalie]

I've seen several red crabs in my tank which look very similar to emerald/mithrax crabs, only difference being color. They seem to pick at the rock and algae and have been harmless so far. Anyone seen these guys before and are they dangerous? The tank has Figi, Carribean and Tonga rock in it. The crabs I believe came from the Caribbean rock.

 

[LilBugger225]

When I got my tampa bay rock I got a few of those crabs (Mithraculus forceps). They are closely related to emerald crabs (M. sculptus). In my experience, they were ok until they got bigger. They tend to get bigger than emerald crabs and then start to pick at corals, at least they did in my tank. Its up to you if you want to take the chance, If I were you if you can catch them take them out now.

HTH

LB 8)

 

[Reef Goalie]

Since I posted the original message, I have seen several more of the red crabs. They seem harmless, eating only some algae and picking at rock. However, one is very big, maybe over 2", and has very large claws. The rock is from TBS and Gulfview that I think they came on. I tried catching them (and the two mantis hitchhikers I have!) with some shrimp in a glass with no luck. Any ideas on how to catch them successfully?

 

[LilBugger225]

The best way that I've found is to see what rock they are chillin in and take that rock out of the tank and wait for the crab to crawl out. They usually will once out of the tank. This method is somewhat of a pain in the ass but if you want to catch them alive its effective. None of the traps ever worked for me and they generally crawl into or under rocks when you try to catch them in the tank. Good Luck!

LB 8)

 

[WhitM]

hey
if you ever catch some matis shrimp. I will gladly take them. Or any crabs that you dont want i would also take.

Whit