Are these gorilla crabs?

ilovemarinetanks · Jul 24, 2023

They look like gorilla crabs to me but I wanted to be sure. Thanks!

TheScientificReefer · Jul 24, 2023

I cant be certain image isnt close enough, but if the tips of the claws are black itll be a gorilla/ cymo genus. Bad hitchhiker. I spent a bit of time collecting and observing acro hitchhikers, with good and bad being very common on imported colonies.
In general hairy crab means not friendly crab

diverjm · Jul 24, 2023

ilovemarinetanks said:
They look like gorilla crabs to me but I wanted to be sure. Thanks!

They sure look like it to me.

shakacuz · Jul 24, 2023

i tend to not go for the hairy crab = bad, as the emerald/ruby crabs have hairy legs. i tend to go for the if pointy claw = bad.

from the pictures, it is likely they are gorilla crabs. however since you are closer to them, i'd inspect the tips of their claws, and go from there.

TheScientificReefer · Jul 24, 2023

shakacuz said:
i tend to not go for the hairy crab = bad, as the emerald/ruby crabs have hairy legs. i tend to go for the if pointy claw = bad.

from the pictures, it is likely they are gorilla crabs. however since you are closer to them, i'd inspect the tips of their claws, and go from there.

Trapezia Crabs which are beneficial have pointed sharp claws, Youre right about emeralds being hairy though its just easier to distinguish based off claw tip coloration and hair sometimes when id-ing for a gorilla crab.

ilovemarinetanks · Jul 26, 2023

I Tried to get a better picture but didn’t have the best luck. His claws are definitely not black. They’re actually light colored but it’s hard to tell in this picture. Anyone has any ideas?

edit: sorry I think this pic may be worse than the originals

JoJosReef · Jul 26, 2023

Yeah, that's a sump monster. I'd keep them out of the Display, lest you end up setting traps later when things go missing.

blaxsun · Jul 26, 2023

JoJosReef said:
Yeah, that's a sump monster. I'd keep them out of the Display, lest you end up setting traps later when things go missing.

+1. The last image sealed that crab's fate for me...

diverjm · Jul 26, 2023

blaxsun said:
+1. The last image sealed that crab's fate for me...

Completely agree! I had to trap 10 of these guys from a gulf live rock shipment. The last one was a huge pain to catch. It ended up clipping four of my serpent stars arms before I finally got it. Luckily the serpents arms grew back and hasn’t had to deal with any aggression since!