There is an EVIL looking crab that has .....

[SCIronMike]

appeared out of nowhere in my aquarium. I had two Emerald crabs before, but when they got too big and started eating corals I took them back to the LFS. But now, this guy has just emerged and is VERY menacing. Is this something I need to be worried about? He is in an area of the tank that is impossible to reach. Only way to get to him would be to tear down the tank.

 

[liquid]

I had 2-3 of them in my 38 gal tank that hitchhiked in on my rock. Never caused me any problems.

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

he just looked into my soul 8O

 

[Joey French]

I don't think you could take a creepier picture...

 

[TZL]

is it eating the bristle worms?

 

[Anonymous]

i have the same crab in my tank, came in on the live rock.
he's been in there for over a year, he hides in the biggest piece
of rock in the tank. i've had 2 firefish and a yellow watchman
completely disappear, i was wondering if he had anything to with it,
since all 3 fish made a home underneath his rock. but i also had a huge brittle star that i got rid of, he was the other suspect. he's almost impossible to catch. only comes out at night, as soon as he sees
any light he goes back in his rock. sometimes i'll go a month without
seeing him. he's starting to get a little careless, one of these days i'll grab him.

 

[teevee]

i relegated one of these guys to my fuge, although his eyes were slightly less red. the girl i rescued him from thinks he and a similar-looking relative were responsible for the dissapearance of one of her fish. i wouldn't stress over it personally, but get him out if you do have the chance.

 

[liquid]

There's some info on this crab on page 2 of our Hitchhiker FAQ:

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_p ... _rock2.htm

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

It's the red eyes...very evil.

I had one of these guys once, but he was removed before I could tell if he was a problem or not. I don't trust crabs at all.

Peace,

Chip

 

[Modo]

I've had several of these guys too. They grow really fast up to a point and then just peer out with those demon eyes. I removed 2 and didn't find the 3rd until I broke down my tank. He was pretty big too.

I don't know if they caused problems or not. I just don't trust crabs so I removed them when I had the chance.

 

[Syris]

I got two of these in my tank for at least a year. Same beady little red eyes, shells have a little dark purple though. One is about a half dollar size now and the other about the size of a quarter. I only see them every couple months. Never seem to bother anyone and no misterious fish deaths. But I do drop a small chunck of food at night a couple times a month as a peace offering to the little devils :roll:
The day they venture away from the LR rock though "bam" there gone to the sump :twisted:

 

[wade1]

I had to remove one I ignored for over a year... it devoured all of my snails and would pile the shells under the LR, so I didn't notice. If you get the chance, I'd say remove it. It won't stop growing.

Wade

 

[Len]

Mike,
Those definitely look evil :twisted:

I've got a few of these and they don't pose any great problems that I've observed.

 

[SCIronMike]

Thanks for the info fellas. This dude is just way too freaky to remain in the tank. When I get some free time, I'm going to try to lure him out.