Emerald Crab?

[madrefkepr]

At the lfs today, they had a small tank with crabs in it, that was marked emerald crabs. They had the texture of an emerald crab, but were more of a tan color. I asked 2 different people there, and they both assured me that they were emerald crabs. I thought emerald crabs are all green, am I wrong?

 

[Anonymous]

Sometimes they will come in somewhat reddish but they are still Mithrax sp. Never seen a tan one however and only have gotten the red ones when mixed with a normal order say out of 50, 2 may be red.

 

[Lil_AquaGirl]

I have heard that the emerald crabs become more green with the more green algae (especially green bubble algae) they take in. I have one that just goes crazy for that green bubble algae and also hair algae-
Maybe the one in the petstore was not with much algae for awhile- how long was it there? When I bought mine it was in a plain tank with nothing but a couple of them and like some angelfish- but no real rocks or anything so as to make it easier to fetch I suppose..... I have not had it that long but mine is already greener than when purchased.

 

[madrefkepr]

I went back and bought one on my way home. It is more of a reddish color than I first thought. Talked to the manager, whom I know pretty well. He said the come in with the green ones, but they don't sell very well.
As far as it turning more of a green color when it eats a lot of bubble algae, that will be interesting to see, as I have a whole bunch in my tank, which is why I wanted one. Thanks!