ID on this crab

[FabiAc]

Can someone ID this crab please, is it reef safe ?

Help appreciated

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Looks like a type of xanthid crab. They are labeled not reef safe, but so are most of the crabs in the aquarium industry.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Looks like a type of xanthid crab. They are labeled not reef safe, but so are most of the crabs in the aquarium industry.

I am going to add to this. I have read of them destroying soft corals and some LPS. Not sure how accurate that is, but I would say be very cautious if you add it to your tank.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hard to say for sure from the pics, but I'm currently leaning toward the Red Egg Crab, Atergatis integerrimus. It is a kind of Xanthid crab.

As mentioned, it's not reef-safe (most crabs are known for causing problems; xanthid crabs in particular are known for being destructive, and with pretty much all crabs, bigger they are, the more problems they typically cause). The red egg crab grows to be ~2-2.5x the size of adult emerald crabs, so I'd expect some pretty heavy damage from it in a normal tank.

Also, as a note, xanthid crabs and other larger crabs are known to occasionally destroy any wires they can reach in addition to corals, so if you keep it/sump it, it would be wise to make sure it can't reach anything important.

 

[FabiAc]

Hard to say for sure from the pics, but I'm currently leaning toward the Red Egg Crab, Atergatis integerrimus. It is a kind of Xanthid crab.

As mentioned, it's not reef-safe (most crabs are known for causing problems; xanthid crabs in particular are known for being destructive, and with pretty much all crabs, bigger they are, the more problems they typically cause). The red egg crab grows to be ~2-2.5x the size of adult emerald crabs, so I'd expect some pretty heavy damage from it in a normal tank.

Also, as a note, xanthid crabs and other larger crabs are known to occasionally destroy any wires they can reach in addition to corals, so if you keep it/sump it, it would be wise to make sure it can't reach anything important.

Alright well thank you, I have a 40 gallon no coral tank and I was planning to put him there, as for them being destructive and causing problems I'll see how it goes. I can always release him back to the beach since the shop sellers locally collect their livestock