It appears to be nocturnal, making it challenging to capture photos of it. I initially thought it might be a gorilla crab, but I haven’t come across any online images with these markings. It doesn’t seem to disturb fish or coral.
Mystery crab.
- Thread starter jsuthers90
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Pretty crab. Kinda looks like some species of gorilla crab but I would want to get a good look at the claws. I've seen mithrax crabs that are real fuzzy but the claw tips are flat for scraping algae off rocks and not pointed for grabbing and holding or designed for crushing.
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Definitely pointy but aren’t dark colored. This morning it looked like it was eating something out of a crevice of a rock.
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I initially thought that, but legs are quite hairy, and clown crabs appear to have a more vibrant coloration. However, it’s challenging to tell due to the small size, it’s about the size of a nickel.
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal
Just another girl who likes fish
IME, claw shape is more important than color or fuzziness... at least when determining if it's reef/fish safe.
Looks like a type of gorilla. The term gorilla crab covers a bunch of different species of Xanthidae crabs. Most of the ones we see in our aquariums are mud brown, but some can be more brightly colored. Heres some that I’ve had:
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Use small traps to catch them?Looks like a type of gorilla. The term gorilla crab covers a bunch of different species of Xanthidae crabs. Most of the ones we see in our aquariums are mud brown, but some can be more brightly colored. Heres some that I’ve had:
I used the glass as the trap. Put some food on the bottom and tilted it toward its home and it climbed in but couldn’t climb out.
The top one I removed the rock and sprayed high salinity saltwater in its hole a few times.
The top one I removed the rock and sprayed high salinity saltwater in its hole a few times.
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twentyleagues
5000 Club Member
I would say that looks just like @Reefing102 2nd pic. Gorilla crab.
PharmrJohn
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Just did an image search and came up with nothing. But it does look like a gorilla crab. Just couldn't match up coloration exactly.
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I tried baiting with a small glass and my shrimp stole it within 2 minutes. :grinning-face-with-sweat: Gonna see how these plastic traps will work.
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cdemoss01
5000 Club Member
Honestly I would buy it off you it looks really cool and unique!I tried baiting with a small glass and my shrimp stole it within 2 minutes. :grinning-face-with-sweat: Gonna see how these plastic traps will work.
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If I had a sump I would! Just my AIO though.
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If your near northern Indiana or want to pay shipping if I catch him your more than welcome to have him for free
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