crab with no name

[wubaguba]

Hello. I have a new setup and recently noticed a small black crab who emerged from my live rock. He has only made one appearance and it was almost pitch black in the room. I wasn't able to see all of his colors but he looked black with small white spots. he was about 2 inches across and had the shape of an emerald crab but not the same markings. i've been able to find his hiding spot and have shined my flashlight on him in his hole (which he hates) and noticed that he has red eyes. not much else to go on.

Anyone have any guesses? Are there any harmful crab species that fit this description?

Thanks! -Bill

 

[Simon1]

No clue about the crab, but was curious about your clowns. How are they doing ?

 

[wubaguba]

Thanks for asking, Simon. my clowns are doing fine....might have been a case of paranoia after my damsel died. i'm still not sure what killed my domino....freaked me out. later.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a good-sized crab that is dark yellowish with these prominent red eyes. Amazingly, in the year and a half the reef has been set up, I have only seen it once.

I have had a number of small fish disappear from the tank, and wonder if this guy might be the culprit....

 

[moonfishie]

I also had a small black crab with red eyes crawl out of my live rock (from Fiji) that sounds like yours. He doesn't have obvious white spots, though and is smaller -- only about 1.5cm across. I looked him up in Fossa and Nilsen and he's a redeye crab. Probably Eriphia sebana.

Details from Fossa and Nilsen: "Eriphia spp. have often been introduced into aquaria with live rocks. These crabs are, unfortunately, among the most predatory and aggressive of all, and an aquarist must be very cautious if he discovers such a crab in his aquarium."

I've named him EvilCrabbie :twisted: and have been waiting quite a while (about a year) for him to do something really bad before I kick him out of the tank. He's been well behaved as far as I can tell...he comes out during the day to chow down when I feed the tank -- otherwise I only see him at night. He may have been responsible for the disappearance of 2 shrimp (but I wasn't a big fan of them anyway...they kept ripping food away from everyone else). My corals (only 2 for now) and zooanthid colony (directly above his hole) have never been harmed.

Keep an eye on him and good luck!

 

[jandree22]

I just removed a crab from my tank no more than 15 min ago. I was having a bit of a problem in my own tank so hopefully things will return to peacefullness now. If he has a regular spot in a certain piece of LR try to physically remove him first and if that fails dip the rock in either freshwater or high salinity (1.030 SG) water for a few seconds. This my drive him out of his hole. Maybe try a trap with bait too?

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

goin down tonight to spy on my tank in the dark...I love it when I find a New Pet. :lol: