can i keep em?

I finally got a pic of this hitchhiker crab. he looks cool but i see 90% of them are bad. love to keep him. would you guys and gals mind i.d. ing him? And whats the worst case scenario if i keep him? Thanks for your help;D

 

I don't know the ID but those pointy pincers don't look good to have around corals. I'm sure someone can give you a definite ID though.

 

If you have corals or inverts, I don't think you ll like the results.... sorry..

 

i only have hitchhiker one. but i like them to. small gorgonian and some sun corals.plus crabs and snails

 

can't say that i can help on the i.d either but i have to agree it doesn't look too reef friendly. worst case scenario it will eat things in your tank you dont want it to. all crabs are opportunistic eaters meaning when given the chance they will eat, could be a fish could be a shrimp other crabs snails that have fallen over and vulerable, but some are catagorized as reef friendly and wont typically eat corals, those are the ones we want to keep.

 

That is a Porcelain Crab and they are more related to squat lobster and hermits than to true crabs. They eat plankton and will clean up bits of uneaten food, I have two in my tank, they are reef safe. YOU CAN KEEP 'EM. That's a nice score for a hitchhiker...

Porcelain crab - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497 501 1963&pcatid=1963
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497 501 629&pcatid=629

 

I'm with the others. I'm pretty sure you can't keep em in a reef system.

 

I have a couple and have never seen them do any damage. I have a black one that is about 3 inches cross that I've given up trying to catch. All he seems to do is scrape coraline all day.

 

well when i was watchin him he had web like? arms looked like he was collecting plankton?

 

exactly