Crab!!!!!!???????

[authentic]

My tank has been up for 3 years...I know every critter I have placed in my tank..emerald crabs,pompoms,snails.....last night a large piece of food landed on my sand bed and a creature shot out from under the rocks..FAST!!!..grabbed the food and disappeared....I had never seen this thing not have I seen a invert so quick...
Tonight I grabbed my flashlight and saw a leg....the rest was behind the rock...I placed a chunk of food in a tweezer and held it in the area..2 of my cleaner shrimp cake by for dinner but the leg and whatever it belongs to stayed still....I could not get a good pic yet but it appears that the leg is spider like coming up from the body with 3-4 sections coming down to the sand with a pointer tip..Considering its size of just have been a hitchhiker from awhile back and has grown to its present size..probably no more than an inch across...and from what I can tell it hasn't killed anything that I'm aware of...what might it be..Any guesses??I will look up photos of any suggestions and try to get a pic

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Arrow crab?

 

[PSU4ME]

Lay a glass with food in it by where you think it is and turn the lights off. If it’s a crab, it’ll slide into the glass

 

[Leslie Tabor]

Well this is a FUN game!! :D

 

[flsalty]

Is it a hairy leg like a gorilla crab?

 

[mtfish]

Lightning fast sounds like a Euniced worm. The "leg" could be part of the mouth? That's my guess for the night. Hope I don't win a prize!

 

[Cristy17]

With a pointy tip I am thinking arrow or decorator crab. I think they are the same....?

 

[MombasaLionfish]

With a pointy tip I am thinking arrow or decorator crab. I think they are the same....?

Not the same crab although there are decorating arrow crabs.

 

[Cristy17]

Not the same crab although there are decorating arrow crabs.

Yes I have been told they are the same, yet some say they are not. I had a decorator crab for a while until I returned home from work and he had stuck all my zoas he could fit on himself. He was rehomed, but fun guy to watch.

 

[Cristy17]

Ok a quick Google search revealed that I am thinking of an arrow crab (pointy head) Definitely not a decorator crab. And what I had was a decorator arrow crab.

 

[authentic]

Here is a pic ,, rearranged some rock in the area so I'll try and find it again tonight....pretty big leg...definitely not an arrow

 

[Scotty Buttons]

Sally light foot crab maybe?

 

[authentic]

Dont think so,,legs are more vertical

 

[Softhammer]

A mantis shrimp perhaps? Very well known to hitchhike and burrow and are lightning fast feeders.

 

[authentic]

So I took out a large monti colony to trim in the area,,,I found a strawberry crab lodged inside,,,I did add this crab to my tank awhile back but never see it!!! It was pretty big , are they that fast????if so I think I've found my culprit

 

[authentic]

Here he is!!!!