Crab ID

Fishfreak2009 · Dec 19, 2021

Anyone able to ID this little guy? Found him while exploring a rocky beach behind the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St Kitts. Was wondering if they are in the aquarium hobby, since it seemed brightly colored.

shwareefer · Dec 19, 2021

Beautiful markings. Some kind of shore crab. I'm going with not reef safe.

oceanleaf · Dec 19, 2021

It is a type of shore crabs, possibly in the genus Pachygrapsus or Grapsus.
There is one species in this group (though exact taxonomy is still in debate) that is in aquarium trade commonly called sally lightfoot crab.
You can read more about it or get one from here.

Fishfreak2009 · Dec 19, 2021

oceanleaf said:
It is a type of shore crabs, possibly in the genus Pachygrapsus or Grapsus.
There is one species in this group (though exact taxonomy is still in debate) that is in aquarium trade commonly called sally lightfoot crab.
You can read more about it or get one from here.

It looked very similar to the Sally Lightfoots, which are really common here in St Kitts as well. Here's a pic of a group of them on the floating dock at Shipwreck Beach Bar