Crabs fromt the beach - Can I keep him?

I went to the beach this past weekend and found these crabs. The beach is in Freeport Texas if that helps to id the critter. And more importantly, can I keep him? He just sits in the sand sifting it all day long, so I think he's a keeper. Plus a really good sand stirrer.

I brought his little brother home too. They both sit in one place and sift/stir sand all day.

 

this is a tender area for most 3reefers but my two cents is that unless you have an id on him and properly quarantined him, get him out. could be carrying parasites or be on some sort of endangered species list or have a specialized diet

 

Keep close eye on. If that is all they do, sounds like "keepers" to me.

Have to be careful though, crabs are opportunistic eaters. May be finding food in sand now...but will be looking elsewhere when hungry or get larger.

Other hermits or snails may be at risk. :-/

If all works out in time, maybe you can send me some! ;D

 

Picking up "things" from the ocean has always been a "no no", imo, but that hasnt stopped me from doing it either. Everytime you do this, your playing russian roulette b/c of what Godbert and Omard mentioned. I have brought home hermit crabs and other kinds of crabs and have had no problems.....yet. I guess I've been lucky. I know its tempting to bring it home for many reasons, but you should be careful if you dont know what it is.

 

But do you know what his name is? What kind of hermit is it? I would like to know so I can find all the information about it that I can. Like, how freggin' big is it going to get?

 

The good thing about crabs is that they're easy to catch and remove. But one should be careful of what one is bringing into your closed eco system.

 

I've used snails and hermits before. Never had a problem. I know its a sticky issue though. I have some quarantined right now in a ten gallon acclimating to the higher temps.

 

So, I guess it's a good thing that I didn't mention the anemone that was washed up and dying that I saved uh.


But what kind of crab is it so I can buy it in the pet shop?

 

i live in nj and when i go to the jersey shore there are tons of sand sifting crabs... i had five of them in my tank from a lfs before so that is how i know they are the same species... if i quarantine them i can keep them? is there anything special i should do to them first or no?

 

Okay, I've kept quiet on this and let people say their thing about getting stuff off the beach. I understand the fear associated with this, but my question is this?

What fish are actually captive bread? What snails and crabs are captive bred or caught on the beach by the local merchants who find it and then sell it to the local pet stores? Aren't some of these things coming from the sea anyway? What's the difference between me grabbing a crab on the beach quarantining it and then adding it to my tank versus a livestock sales house doing the same?

As far as that goes, where does the live rock come from? - I know touchy subject, some people insist on nuking that before adding it to their tanks.