Teddy Bear Crab

[firefighterj80]

Been trying to catch this guy for a few weeks now. Woke up this morning to find him actually in the trap. For the last couple months I thought I had a gorilla crab and looks to me like it's actually a teddy bear crab. Too bad these things aren't reef safe, super cool looking crab. He's been relocated to a local reefer with a "pest" tank.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

For the last couple months I thought I had a gorilla crab and looks to me like it's actually a teddy bear crab.

Great pics and a cool crab - glad to hear it's getting a good home!

Slight correction here - this crab appears to be a Common Hairy Crab, Pilumnus vespertilio, rather than a Teddy Bear Crab, Polydectus cupulifer; either way, definitely not reef safe, and still very fuzzy.

 

[firefighterj80]

Great pics and a cool crab - glad to hear it's getting a good home!

Slight correction here - this crab appears to be a Common Hairy Crab, Pilumnus vespertilio, rather than a Teddy Bear Crab, Polydectus cupulifer; either way, definitely not reef safe, and still very fuzzy.

No idea, I do know the common hairy crab eats mostly seaweed. This guy demolished some torch colonies and I'm pretty sure a couple small fish. Teddy Bear or hairy, he had to go regardless

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

No idea, I do know the common hairy crab eats mostly seaweed. This guy demolished some torch colonies and I'm pretty sure a couple small fish.

Yeah, they seem to be pretty opportunistically predatory:

Looks like it might be the Common Hairy Crab, Pilumnus vespertilio - not reef-safe, but would be a cool sump monster:

"In general, P. vespertilio consumes a wide range of foods, including crustose coralline algae and various other kinds of red/green/brown algae [2][22]. It is also known to prey on several intertidal animals, including brittle stars, marine gastropods (sea snails), bivalves (clams), bristle worms, and sea slugs [2][22]. In addition, they may also consume toxic zoanthids, which may make some members of this species mildly poisonous[4]."

Source:

https://wiki.nus.edu.sg/display/TAX/Pilumnus+vespertilio+-+Hairy+crab

 

[InvertObsession]

Does anyone have experience keeping multiple common hairy crabs in the same tank? Mine has gone after small fish and hermit crabs but I haven’t heard of anyone keeping a few in the same tank.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Does anyone have experience keeping multiple common hairy crabs in the same tank? Mine has gone after small fish and hermit crabs but I haven’t heard of anyone keeping a few in the same tank.

Most people don't purposefully keep crabs like this (as you can't really keep them with anything else), so I don't know how they'd do in a group. I would guess (quite possibly inaccurately) that you may see aggression between members of the same sex, but you might not.

If you try keeping multiples, let us know how it goes!

 

[Naekuh]

He looks absolutely delicious..err i mean... dangerous...

 

[Septurn]

He looks absolutely delicious..err i mean... dangerous...

:rolling-on-the-floor-laughing: