Crab ID?

PolypPocket

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Already moved it to the tank of shame but curious about what it could be. I have two gorilla crabs in the “TOS” too and they look pretty different than this guy (I don’t have a sump so I set up a small tank). Rock was from TBS. It is hairy but barely, and has dark claws with white tips. Also slightly more bold than the gorillas, I would see it cautiously coming out at feeding time whereas the gorillas wouldn’t budge until after dark.

20260810_011240_C5020188-27B8-4768-8462-D2EAFF865B30.png


20260810_011240_AC08F0A4-7D65-44BB-9A3C-9AC0BA85CB40.png


20260810_011240_9DD61BD9-E532-4305-B324-1121A50AB13A.png
 
I'm 95% sure it's a baby Stone Crab (black tips on the claws). They are very common where TBS gets their rocks from. They are carnivorous (may eat snails while small) and they grow rather quickly.

I do a lot of live collecting of CUC when I snorkel in the Florida Keys for my own tanks. I never take stone crabs home.

If you are interested, there is a link to a snorkeling & collecting thread here at R2R in my signature below. There are lots of photos (all taken by my wife). We snorkel near shore patch reefs.

I even occasionally see a small octopus. This one was on some stony coral. BTW, this coral is NPS and is found all over the seabed in shallow path reefs... and it's totally illegal to collect!

octopus.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'm 95% sure it's a baby Stone Crab (black tips on the claws). They are very common where TBS gets their rocks from. They are carnivorous (may eat snails while small) and they grow rather quickly.

I do a lot of live collecting of CUC when I snorkel in the Florida Keys for my own tanks. I never take stone crabs home.
Ah ok that makes sense then, going to google them to see what I’m up against. Thank you
 
I'm 95% sure it's a baby Stone Crab (black tips on the claws). They are very common where TBS gets their rocks from. They are carnivorous (may eat snails while small) and they grow rather quickly.

I do a lot of live collecting of CUC when I snorkel in the Florida Keys for my own tanks. I never take stone crabs home.

If you are interested, there is a link to a snorkeling & collecting thread here at R2R in my signature below. There are lots of photos (all taken by my wife). We snorkel near shore patch reefs.

I even occasionally see a small octopus. This one was on some stony coral. BTW, this coral is NPS and is found all over the seabed in shallow path reefs... and it's totally illegal to collect!

octopus.jpg

You must have edited your post? Or I didn’t see the rest of your message the first time. Yes I’d love to see! I’m on the app so I can’t see your signature. I will try on a browser.

Edit: could it be a black fingered mud crab?
 
I seriously doubt it. The mud crab's carapace is broader at the sides and much less translucent. In 20 years of 2 to 4 snorkeling/collecting trips a year to the Keys, I've never seen a mud crab.

Snorkel & Collecting thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/snorkeling-collecting-discussion-group.412414/

This was my 40g aio tank before I pulled all the sps and lps corals out and put them in a new 20g aio tank. I'll try today to get a couple of photos of the current tanks.

0880 Aquarium 12- 14-2025.jpg
 

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