pom pom crab

[J Castellano]

I have just recently realized that I had a pom pom crab hitchhike in on some LR I purchased. Is there anything special I should be doing to ensure that it lives?? They say Pom Pom's don't stay alive long in captivity but I bought the LR a little while back now and he seems to be doing fine but has no pom pom's. Any help would be appreciated.

Justin

[bertoni]

Crabs don't tend to be very picky about what they eat. Some fish food and perhaps a bit of algae now and then should be fine. Are you sure it's a pom-pom crab?

[J Castellano]

Well, I looked on melevsreef.com at the identification section and the picture looked almost identical to the crab in my tank minus the anemones that they normally carry around. So unless there is a similar crad I am pretty sure.

Justin

[bertoni]

There are a lot of crabs, and identification to species usually is pretty much impossible for hobbyists. You might have a pom-pom crabs, but it might be some other type. I would watch for signs of predation. Crabs can be destructive.

[XeniaMania]

That's why I leave all and any hitch hiking crabs I find in the sump. They can clean the stuff up in there, but the only way out is throught the impellar of my Rio1700...lol

[J Castellano]

I didn't leave it in the sump because I couldn't catch it. It definitely resembles a pom-pom crab. How would you go about catching a pom-pom crab??

[smcnally]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6882349#post6882349 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
There are a lot of crabs, and identification to species usually is pretty much impossible for hobbyists. You might have a pom-pom crabs, but it might be some other type. I would watch for signs of predation. Crabs can be destructive.

I agree that crab identification is very difficult. But, If you can't ID a PomPom (aka boxer) crab, you'd have to be color blind ;). They are pretty unique with their coloration and paterns.
http://melevsreef.com/id/pompom5.jpg

[J Castellano]

Well the thing is that he hides in a crevice in a piece of live rock and when I see him he ducks in so deep I can no longer see him. I only get a quick glance when I do see him. He definately has the rings around his legs and the tiny pincers of a crab but I haven't caught him out in the open for a positive good look.

[bertoni]

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/crabs/swcrabs.htm

Actually, there seems to be a whole genus of pom-pom crabs. I'm not sure that your picture matches some of the ones I've seen on sale.