Hitchhiker Crab ID Please

Discussion in 'ID This!' started by rchlon9, Jul 22, 2009.

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  1. rchlon9

    rchlon9 Plankton

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 2008
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    Hi all,

    Anyone wanna ID this fella for me?

    Is it reef safe?....... My guess is it's a gorilla crab!

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Cheers
     
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  3. divott

    divott Giant Squid

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    holland landing, ontario ,canada
    i would tend to agree on gorilla , and not reef safe. can always toss him in your sump or refugium .
     
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  4. guitar

    guitar Plankton

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    Its not a good guy with those black claws.
     
  5. Geoff

    Geoff Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    Jasper,Al
    Ditto Divott. Hairy and black claws, I would have to say gorilla also, definately not reef safe but sump safe if you want to keep him.
     
  6. charlesr1958

    charlesr1958 Flamingo Tongue

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    Location:
    Mactan Island, The Philippines
    Look at the shape of the claws, they are "spoon" shaped, meaning that this crab spends its time scraping your rock for any life forms that it can remove and eat, including algae. But given that all crabs are omnivores, it will go after meatier menus as well. Larger specimens are known to develop a taste for zoanthids and other polyps that they can scoop off. Not reef safe at all.

    Chuck
     
  7. Rawdogz

    Rawdogz Torch Coral

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    I Banish you to the sump to live out your days:toilet::hehe:
     
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  9. pgoodsell

    pgoodsell Horrid Stonefish

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    Do a search for gorilla crab and you will see they have sharper claws, The kinda flat tips on that crab are the same as an emerald crab. I would say emerald crab.
    Here is a pic of a gorilla....

    [​IMG]
     
  10. WCW

    WCW Feather Duster

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    I was thinking the same as pgoodsell. My emerald and the others i've seen have the 'flat' points on the end of the claw. Typically they're greener than that, but I've seen them closer to the brown end of the spectrum too.
     
  11. FuzzBall03

    FuzzBall03 Flamingo Tongue

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    Dallas, TX
    Looks like one of my emeralds honestly...
    I definitely would have to say it's no Gorilla though.
     
  12. Rawdogz

    Rawdogz Torch Coral

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    Banish him to the sump with some algae to eat, give him a few weeks if it turns back green move him back to the Hilton, if not he remains a sump dweller
     
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