Resolved Help IDing the crab please New Pic 2-20-12

Hi 2in10 - got your message. It sure isn't an emerald. There are a lot of families that have been split off the Xanthidae in recent years and your little guy belongs to one of them. It will take me a little while to search through my references to see if I can get a better match. In any case your sump or future fuge will be a good spot for it to live.
Cheers, Leslie

 

Thanks, I appreciate it. It is so difficult without knowing a good resource to find things on the web. You can get in the neighborhood but that is about it.

 

The thing about web id sites and even the published guides is that they all have mistakes. The best only have a few but some sites are so bad it's pathetic.

Your crab seems similar to some species in the family Eriphidae, genus Eriphia. Take a look at this one Eriphia scabricula Guam 403-2 Incidentally, this is one of the best sites.

There's not that much information on the diet of Eriphia crabs. They switch between grazing on micro-algae and predation on other crustaceans, worms, and small molluscs like mussels (not giant clams). Some species are known to be very toxic if eaten. The toxin isn't produced by the crab, instead it comes from the dinoflagellates that it eats.

 

Thanks again for the info.

 

Bump for new pic on the first page.

 

Did you ever find the name of this guy?

 

Yup right here from Leslie
Eriphia scabricula Guam 403-2

I think I might name it China like the post on the first page with the toy crab says. LOL

 

LOL I didn't click that link and assumed she was just giving another page to look at...
I had to laugh again when I read the toy crab post too!

 

I laughed again at the post too.

 

It is gorilla crab if it has black pointy claws. Bad