What kind of Crab is this?

[Haskellf]

Anyone know what type of crab this is? It has black legs and a red/orange soft shell. I don't think it's part of the Hermit family because it doesn't have a hard shell like the rest of the hermits.
I've read about the red Crabs, but this one doesn't have large pincers, just small ones... pretty much the same thicknss as it's legs. It is almost as large as a quater size and oval in shape.
If you know what kind of crab this is, is it beneficial? Will it kill my other crabs or snails? Is it reef safe?

Thanks in advance.... also, sorry about the image, but it's the best i could do with what i have

http://homepage.mac.com/haskellf/SaltWa ... lbum9.html

 

[Anonymous]

My suggestion is remove it immediately until you can get a positive ID...Since your picture is really unclear(either the picture was too close up or very blurry)...It is nearly impossible to tell just from the description without a clear picture and to whether or not it is reef safe...Again quarantine it until you can identify it...

 

[Len]

I can't make out a crab in the photo 8O But I agree with Nikon; crabs are shifty at best and not to be trusted. Remove it if you can.

 

[Haskellf]

My suggestion is remove it immediately until you can get a positive ID...Since your picture is really unclear(either the picture was too close up or very blurry)...It is nearly impossible to tell just from the description without a clear picture and to whether or not it is reef safe...Again quarantine it until you can identify it...

Alright, I took another pic but this should be enough for a guess. A friend of mine said that it might be a female Red Crab since it doesn't have the large claws... any guesses? Anyone? Even without the photo someone must be able to be able to make a guess based on the description... thanks again .... BTW I don't want to get rid of a crab until I know what it is... if it's helpful, I'll keep it

 

[Tackett]

a red crab with small pincers can be anything. There are a trillion species of crab, and guess what? Most of them are shifty like Len said.

 

[Tackett]

from that pic, it looks like a hawaiian christmas crab.

 

[Tackett]

If it is a christmas crab, you can put it in a seperate tank, let it get a little bigger, and eat it.

speaking of crabs check this badass out.
http://www.abc.net.au/nature/island/ep2 ... /22big.jpg

 

[Oceans Ferevh]

...Crab on steroids 8O Are you sure that's not the governor of CA :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm..Well I have no idea what kinda crab it is...It could be a box crab...Its rear legs look like paddles...I have seen similar red crabs but I cant ID it..This is something for John_Brandt or David Mohr..You want the scientific name too as common names are hard to narrow down due to the fact there could be others with the same common name...

 

[hillbilly]

Just squash it! :twisted:

 

[danmhippo]

Whatever it is, I don't want it anywhere in my tank.

 

[Haskellf]

Well, I didn't want to kill the bugger since he or she has some character (eyes bug up and down), so I took the risk (heh heh heh, I know what you are all thinking) and so far so good. He's found a nice clump of algae to eat and has been feasting ever since.

Thanks everyone for the info and help

 

[Tackett]

He's found a nice clump of algae to eat and has been feasting ever since.

Thats a postive sign, maybe he will not be as apt to skewer a fish if he gets enough algae to eat. Keep us informed, I am curious.

 

[Anonymous]

definitely keep an eye on it for quite some time..when the algae runs out it may lean towards fish or whatever else it can get its grubby claws on..After all, crabs are opportunistic feeds for the most part...