Crab in Bird's nest??? Good or Bad?

[scottwhitson]

Hello all,

I just purchased a bird's nest from our LFS and noticed that there is a crab living in it (I haven't put the frag into the tank yet). The crab is red with white circles all over his body. I can't get a good look at his pinchers but am concerned if this could be an evil killing crab? Anyone have any ideas I am off to check Melevs site for an ID as well but anyone with info please help!!

[davefan13]

if you see him picking at the coral, you should remove him. If not, and you want to keep him, you could just keep a close eye on him, but remember it will be hard to remove after getting it into your tank.

[scottwhitson]

Yeah if he ever got off of the coral he would be about impossible to get out of the tank maybe I will try to get him off and put him in the sump.

[scottwhitson]

I think that this is the beast any one have any experiences??


http://www.stephenwong.com/gallery/Crustaceans/Crab_Coral_Crab_01_Trapezia_rufopunctata

[steve the plumb]

you can try the sps forum someone there might help you

[dpearly88]

I have a red and blue crab that looks much like the one shown on your link. It moves about the three colonies of Pocillopora that I have in my tank. All parties evolved seem happy. I wouldn't worry about it.

[rssjsb]

Better yet, post in the invert forum. I bet Leslie can tell you what it is. If it's a commensal crab, you may kill it if you take it off the coral it's living in.

[AquaReeferMan]

IME the crabs that are smooth and not hairy do more good than bad in SPS. If it is hairy and dark in color remove it.

[saltkreep]

I had 3 or 4 in a large pocillopora colony for years! No problems. They never left the colony. they do like brine shrimp

[Randall_James]

just do a google search on Commensal crabs, neat hitchikers and can be left alone

[scottwhitson]

Thanks for the info I am going to try him out. The LFS has had that frag in their tank for about 2 months and he has never left that coral so hope for the best. Someone in the SPS forum said that it was probably a Commensal crab as well. Thanks again for the info.

[LeslieH]

If it's really Trapezia rufopunctata you lucked out. As people have suggested it's one of the beneficial commensal coral crabs. These keep their host corals clean of silt & debris & defend them from would-be predators. Some filter feed, eat coral mucus, and perhaps some flesh from coral as well but the amount lost is minimal in comparison to the increased growth the corals experience.

[davocean]

I wonder how many people actually looked at your pic.
Usually it's either the typical smooth commensal(great to have) or the hairy one(bad guy)
I have never seen yours b4
Looks really cool, hope it's beneficial, and other than really unusual color it does have the look of commensal.
That could be a real nice score.

[saltkreep]

It just depends! I had an emerald crab destroy an sps colony.:mad2:

[Icefire]

Probably some kind of "acro crab"