crab on elegance coral

[kmarine]

Hi everyone, I just got this elegance coral and found this crab. I think it’s a gall crab and I’ve been reading conflicting information about them. Some articles say they are reef safe while other posts claim they will kill the coral. I’ve also seen posts where someone has removed the crab and the coral dies shortly after. My coral looks super healthy and does not seem to be affected by it so is it better to let the little crab be or try to remove it?

Thank you!

 

[Tanglover1]

Hi everyone, I just got this elegance coral and found this crab. I think it’s a gall crab and I’ve been reading conflicting information about them. Some articles say they are reef safe while other posts claim they will kill the coral. I’ve also seen posts where someone has removed the crab and the coral dies shortly after. My coral looks super healthy and does not seem to be affected by it so is it better to let the little crab be or try to remove it?

Thank you!

Pic is little blur... see if anyone can help u as I know it is hard to take good pics. To me it looks like a good crab

 

[CryptoNautical]

Neat lookin fella. Sadly I would pluck it if you didn't willingly add it, or at least quarantine it

 

[kmarine]

Pic is little blur... see if anyone can help u as I know it is hard to take good pics. To me it looks like a good crab

Thanks I’ll try to get better pictures and repost them!

 

[kmarine]

Neat lookin fella. Sadly I would pluck it if you didn't willingly add it, or at least quarantine it

Thanks for your reply! I tried to get him last night but the coral closed up around him when I tried to grab it with some tweezers. I’ll try again today

 

[Nicroper]

Looks like a porcelain anemone crab. Good guy, look it up and see if it matches what you have.

 

[kmarine]

Looks like a porcelain anemone crab. Good guy, look it up and see if it matches what you have.

Thanks for the reply! My plan is to let the crab stay there unless I see signs of irritation from the coral. I'm not sure if it's a porcelain crab since its claws seem to be smaller and it doesn't have little dots on it but as long its not causing harm I'll leave it alone.

 

[Kasrift]

Looks like a porcelain crab to me too. I think @ISpeakForTheSeas could give a solid identification.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Looks like a porcelain crab to me too. I think @ISpeakForTheSeas could give a solid identification.

I'm not sure in this case - closer up pics may help with an ID here though.

That said, the claws do look too small from what I can see for a porcelain crab. OP, how many pairs of legs can you see on the crab/how many pairs does it use for walking? Porcelain's would have 3 pairs for walking with a fourth basically tucked under their shell, while other crabs have 4 pairs for walking.

Personally, I'm wondering if it might be some kind of gall crab like in the following threads, but - again - I can't tell for sure:

Crab ID? - Reef Central Online Community

Crab ID? Other Invertebrates

www.reefcentral.com

Gall Crab out of my Elegance

This Gall Crab was in my Elegance since I got him a few months ago. Before I decided to “go digging” in the Elegance’s skeleton, I noticed a lot of white string guts coming out of the Elegance one night. Thought it was a goner but the next day it opened about 50%. So the next evening, I pulled...

www.reef2reef.com

Gall crab got nabbed

I noticed bright orange claws sticking out of my Elegance coral yesterday and immediately recognized there was a Gall crab lurking. I waited for this afternoon for the now slightly irritated coral to retract a bit. I found the crab on the flesh and not in a burrow. Glad I caught it early before...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[kmarine]

I'm not sure in this case - closer up pics may help with an ID here though.

That said, the claws do look too small from what I can see for a porcelain crab. OP, how many pairs of legs can you see on the crab/how many pairs does it use for walking? Porcelain's would have 3 pairs for walking with a fourth basically tucked under their shell, while other crabs have 4 pairs for walking.

Personally, I'm wondering if it might be some kind of gall crab like in the following threads, but - again - I can't tell for sure:

Crab ID? - Reef Central Online Community

Crab ID? Other Invertebrates

www.reefcentral.com

Gall Crab out of my Elegance

This Gall Crab was in my Elegance since I got him a few months ago. Before I decided to “go digging” in the Elegance’s skeleton, I noticed a lot of white string guts coming out of the Elegance one night. Thought it was a goner but the next day it opened about 50%. So the next evening, I pulled...

www.reef2reef.com

Gall crab got nabbed

I noticed bright orange claws sticking out of my Elegance coral yesterday and immediately recognized there was a Gall crab lurking. I waited for this afternoon for the now slightly irritated coral to retract a bit. I found the crab on the flesh and not in a burrow. Glad I caught it early before...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks! I had seen those posts too and thought my crab looked similar but it’s hard to say for sure. He hasn’t come out as much since the first day I noticed him but I’ll try to get another picture if he comes out!

 

[TnFishwater98]

Does it have nets on its 2 front appendages? Pretty sure that crab is hosting and should not be a problem but get other opinions. If you got an anemone/ porcelain crab that’s awesome!

 

[Nicroper]

I'm not sure in this case - closer up pics may help with an ID here though.

That said, the claws do look too small from what I can see for a porcelain crab. OP, how many pairs of legs can you see on the crab/how many pairs does it use for walking? Porcelain's would have 3 pairs for walking with a fourth basically tucked under their shell, while other crabs have 4 pairs for walking.

Personally, I'm wondering if it might be some kind of gall crab like in the following threads, but - again - I can't tell for sure:

Crab ID? - Reef Central Online Community

Crab ID? Other Invertebrates

www.reefcentral.com

Gall Crab out of my Elegance

This Gall Crab was in my Elegance since I got him a few months ago. Before I decided to “go digging” in the Elegance’s skeleton, I noticed a lot of white string guts coming out of the Elegance one night. Thought it was a goner but the next day it opened about 50%. So the next evening, I pulled...

www.reef2reef.com

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/gall-crab-got-nabbed.885205/[/URL

Could it have possibly lost the larger claws and only possess the 2nd set with fans?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Could it have possibly lost the larger claws and only possess the 2nd set with fans?

Yeah, that's part of why I asked how many pairs of legs it has that it uses for walking. If the crab only has 3 sets of legs for walking, it's probably a porcelain crab, so the smaller "claws" would be the grooming appendages (periopods):

Tiny ‘sponges’, tiny legs: Their unique functions in the Porcelain Crab

By Siena Watson In our second Arthropod lab, we got to look at many marine species, including crabs, shrimp, and barnacles. Organisms within Phylum Arthropoda share certain traits, including an exo…

davisinvertebrates.wordpress.com

Granted, the easiest way to tell would be to get the crab, flip it over, and see what (if any) limbs are missing.

 

[kmarine]

Hi everyone. Thanks for your thoughts. I’m really trying to get better pics but he’s really tiny, about 1cm diameter, so the images don’t come out well. He doesn’t move around, just kind of folds the flesh over the coral around him, so I can’t tell how many legs he has or how he walks. I will say the front two legs are tiny claws so I don’t think it’s missing any legs. If I get better images I will post them.

 

[Spare time]

I'd just keep it. Its clearly not harming anything.