Small Pink Crab in Birdsnest

Joe Rogers · Apr 4, 2018

I just bought a nice simple pink birdsnest colony, partially because I saw a cool little crab living in its branches. The crab is a perfect match to its color, and the LFS mentioned that they hadn’t even noticed it hiding in there. Does anyone have experience in this? Doesn’t look like Trapezia Guttata to me. Pictures coming in once it’s in the tank.

DeniseAndy · Apr 4, 2018

Probably a porcelain crab and great find. They live in the branches of sps and do not harm them. Cool guys.

Dana Riddle · Apr 4, 2018

Crabs (Trapezia, at least) can be a good indicator of coral health. Crabs will abandon host corals if the coral is suffering.

DeniseAndy · Apr 5, 2018

Trapezia. That was what I was searching for in my head when I put porcelain. Thanks Dana.

Joe Rogers · Apr 5, 2018

Thank for the help. I am going to blast some whites and get a video/picture today. I wanted to wait for full PE because it's amazing how closely the crab's color matches the birdsnest's polyps. It looks like a hairy trapezia. It is only a simple pink birdsnest, but this might make it my favorite coral in the tank.

Joe Rogers · Apr 9, 2018

Robink · Apr 9, 2018

Nice birdsnest! He blends right in!

Graffiti Spot · Apr 10, 2018

Normally bad crabs are shaped like that and are also fuzzy. Are its eyes also pink? If so I would keep an eye out for damaged areas and remove it if you see any.

Just because a crab is living in a colony at a local store does not mean that the coral is healthy. In the wild they may only stay in healthy coral but after shipping coral can stress a lot or die quickly, and the crab doesn't just leave the second the coral decides it's going to go downhill. I would still rely on the looks of the coral to determine health.

Joe Rogers · Apr 10, 2018

Pedoconfuego said:
Normally bad crabs are shaped like that and are also fuzzy. Are its eyes also pink? If so I would keep an eye out for damaged areas and remove it if you see any.

Just because a crab is living in a colony at a local store does not mean that the coral is healthy. In the wild they may only stay in healthy coral but after shipping coral can stress a lot or die quickly, and the crab doesn't just leave the second the coral decides it's going to go downhill. I would still rely on the looks of the coral to determine health.

I will definitely take a better look and see if I can ID it. I can’t tell if it’s eyes are pink to be honest. His color is so perfectly matched the birdsnest that I assumed he had a symbiotic relationship. If not, into the mantis shrimp tank he goes!!

saltyfilmfolks · Apr 10, 2018

Joe Rogers said:
I will definitely take a better look and see if I can ID it. I can’t tell if it’s eyes are pink to be honest. His color is so perfectly matched the birdsnest that I assumed he had a symbiotic relationship. If not, into the mantis shrimp tank he goes!!

I’ve got two in my tanks for the last 18-19 months.
You’ll be fine. Target feed em a bit of chunky food now and then. Pretty soon they will come out and wave claws at dinner time.
The only real bad crab is a hungry crab. The only crab I’ve had eat a fish live and attack was a common hermit from the LFS.

There are a TON of people with these crabs.