crabs with hairy legs - bad news?

chilyb56 · 01/21/2006, 06:55 PM

I've spotted a tiny crab with hairy legs that's living in hole in our live rock. Unfortunately I can't say much else because it hasn't come out of the hole while we're watching - it's maybe a 1 cm hole that goes all the way through the rock and I can see it moving in there when I shine a flashlight in the hole. Also I'm not sure where it came from... I've had some Florida LR for about 2 years - and I've never seen this thing before, but I've just added some new Fiji LR. The crab is residing in the Florida rock, but I'm suspecting it hitched a ride from Fiji.

I know this is not a lot of info... does anyone suspect this crab is going to be a bad actor?

JENnKerry · 01/21/2006, 07:03 PM

Could possibly be a gorilla crab. I would try to catch it and banish it to your sump or fuge to play it safe.

CrazyLionfish · 01/21/2006, 07:05 PM

Emerald Crabs have somewhat hairy legs, and for the most part, they are reef safe.

chilyb56 · 01/21/2006, 07:06 PM

sounds un-good. Any suggestions on how to flush it out of the hole?

integlikewhoa · 01/21/2006, 07:08 PM

I have one in my tank. I have been watching him for a week or so now. I know it came in on my fiji rock too. But i havent added any rock since almost a year ago. He too has hair and some nice pinchers. What kind of food should i put in a cup to catch him?

chilyb56 · 01/21/2006, 07:08 PM

we're talking about spikey-hairy legs - a pretty distinguishing feature and pretty much all we can see. And small sharp looking claws...

I know I've seen some posts on this topic... how bad is a gorilla crab?

JENnKerry · 01/21/2006, 07:13 PM

Gorilla crabs are bad news. You might as well have a mantis, sorry

You could try enticing it with a piece of food on a skewer. Get something like prawn or krill and attach it to that. I feed my purple lobster like that. I don't see why it wouldn't work with a crab.

lossman · 01/21/2006, 07:40 PM

if the claws are dark looking, it's a bad crab. If you can take the rock out, try flushing the rock with ro water or, if that does not work, poke the holes with a skewer to get it out. We recently removed a crab with spikey legs, not really hairy and did not look like a gorilla crab, but when I saw it with a hermit in it's brown claws, that was enough for me. He met his maker yesterday. :/

integlikewhoa · 01/21/2006, 07:49 PM

I been watchin mine and havent had any reason to rush his fate yet. He's lucky im LAZY!

2crazyreefers · 01/21/2006, 09:01 PM

Sounds like the gorilla crab which is bad news, I'm told they eat acro's. Also I always find corals knocked over every morning. I found a large one in my 125 sps pank about a month ago. Fortunately my 180 will be in monday so when I swap tanks somehow I am going to find the beast and get him out. Good luck with yours.

lossman · 01/22/2006, 07:08 AM

I just saw another little gorilla in the tank last night.

Was looking at the tank around 3:30 am with the red flashlight and there he was crawling back under a rock. I can't believe I am stilling finding those buggers!!!

chilyb56 · 01/22/2006, 02:05 PM

white claws. According the guy at the LFS it's most likely from Florida due to the Fiji curing process... possible that we just never noticed it. He was also pretty sure that it will eventually do something to upset me [destroy it]

integlikewhoa · 01/22/2006, 03:58 PM

anyone have a pic of this gorilla crabs u guys are talking about.

lossman · 01/22/2006, 04:41 PM

CrazyLionfish · 01/22/2006, 05:17 PM

Chillyb if you get him out, take a picture so we can actulley identify if it is good or bad, if it ends up being good, you might as well keep it.

lossman · 01/22/2006, 05:28 PM

Here is a better gorilla crab picture. The one I previously posted looks reddish and that's not what they really look like. I dug through all my old photo's and came up with this......

This guy was just getting ready to slide down into the jar trap that we had set for him.

NYBen · 01/22/2006, 05:55 PM

DOn't know if he looks like this...Not reef safe! At least mine wasn't, He tore through some softies in one night, he was then banished to the sump.

chris2222000 · 01/22/2006, 06:09 PM

Ive had a mystery crab in my tank for at least over a year. He kind of shocked me the first time I saw him. I could never catch him so I left him. I have never had any live stock go missing, and all ive "seen" him eat was algae attached to the live rock. He is black and hairy.
-Chris

lossman · 01/22/2006, 06:24 PM

These darn gorillas are sneaky guys. You can have them in your tank for months and months with no problems. All of a sudden, you get up and you are missing a couple of ricordias....or discosomas....or something. And you know the only "bad" thing in your tank is this little bugger, but trying to get him out is a bear!! The last one I took out, just the other day, was the size of a quarter, and I had never seen him until a couple weeks before. I was going to wait until he got bolder and more used to me. Then the other day I got up with slime all over the center section of the tank and two pink ricordias missing. Nothing else in the tank eats that stuff. I lucked out getting him out. Now I find another tiny gorilla!!! Sheesh!!!! It's like a video game....take out one bad guy and another one pops up to take it's place!!!

lossman · 01/22/2006, 08:44 PM

So the lights went out and I turned the moon lights on. After a bit I took a flashlight and searched the tank. Here's what I found. One gorilla crab, two mithrax crabs and a good sized porceline crab. And here I thought the only crab in the tank I had was that little gorilla!! And that's the only one I did not see!!! With 300 lbs lr, who knows what else is there that I cannot see!!! I think I will leave the flashlight alone from now on!!! LOL

chris2222000 · 01/22/2006, 09:02 PM

Did you try the glass jar in the sand trap idea : )
-Chris

chilyb56 · 01/22/2006, 10:04 PM

well I'm not sure what that trap is exactly, but I put a glass at the bottom of the tank with a shrimp pellet in it. Those shrimp pellets are irresistable. We'll see if there's anything in there tomorrow. How does the glass jar sand trap work?

chilyb56 · 02/22/2006, 08:59 AM

Well I'm not sure what it was. It kind of looked like one of those gorilla type crabs shown above or one of those teddy bear crabs I've seen in other threads. It had long hairs, but the hairs didn't look to be as thick as the teddy bears.

Anyway, I use the past tense because yesterday I recieved an order of snails and clean up crew critters. The nassarius snails are quite small, and I couldn't get the image of the crab dining on my snails out of my head... (and whatever else he might decide to nibble on). So I pulled the piece of LR out of my tank that he hides in, poked him out of his hole with a chopstick, and dropped him into my 6g nanocube mantis tank. It was almost like our mantis (Frank) had been waiting his whole life for this moment to come and jumped the crab immediately... it was a pretty intense moment. That is pretty much that.

01/21/2006, 06:55 PM	#1
chilyb56 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 106	crabs with hairy legs - bad news? I've spotted a tiny crab with hairy legs that's living in hole in our live rock. Unfortunately I can't say much else because it hasn't come out of the hole while we're watching - it's maybe a 1 cm hole that goes all the way through the rock and I can see it moving in there when I shine a flashlight in the hole. Also I'm not sure where it came from... I've had some Florida LR for about 2 years - and I've never seen this thing before, but I've just added some new Fiji LR. The crab is residing in the Florida rock, but I'm suspecting it hitched a ride from Fiji. I know this is not a lot of info... does anyone suspect this crab is going to be a bad actor?

01/21/2006, 07:03 PM	#2
JENnKerry Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Jersey Posts: 7,384	Could possibly be a gorilla crab. I would try to catch it and banish it to your sump or fuge to play it safe. __________________ We Don't Have a Signature..... Current Tank Info: 125 Gallon Reef

01/21/2006, 07:05 PM	#3
CrazyLionfish Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: IL Posts: 1,627	Emerald Crabs have somewhat hairy legs, and for the most part, they are reef safe. __________________ Matt Current Tank Info: 75 gallon fowlr, 12 gallon, 40 gallon reef

01/21/2006, 07:08 PM	#5
integlikewhoa Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Arcadia, CA Posts: 1,381	I have one in my tank. I have been watching him for a week or so now. I know it came in on my fiji rock too. But i havent added any rock since almost a year ago. He too has hair and some nice pinchers. What kind of food should i put in a cup to catch him? __________________ I think of one later. Current Tank Info: 28G JBJ Nano for sale

01/21/2006, 07:13 PM	#7
JENnKerry Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Jersey Posts: 7,384	Gorilla crabs are bad news. You might as well have a mantis, sorry You could try enticing it with a piece of food on a skewer. Get something like prawn or krill and attach it to that. I feed my purple lobster like that. I don't see why it wouldn't work with a crab. __________________ We Don't Have a Signature..... Current Tank Info: 125 Gallon Reef

01/21/2006, 07:06 PM	#4
chilyb56 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 106	sounds un-good. Any suggestions on how to flush it out of the hole?

01/21/2006, 07:40 PM	#8
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	if the claws are dark looking, it's a bad crab. If you can take the rock out, try flushing the rock with ro water or, if that does not work, poke the holes with a skewer to get it out. We recently removed a crab with spikey legs, not really hairy and did not look like a gorilla crab, but when I saw it with a hermit in it's brown claws, that was enough for me. He met his maker yesterday. :/ __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

01/21/2006, 07:49 PM	#9
integlikewhoa Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Arcadia, CA Posts: 1,381	I been watchin mine and havent had any reason to rush his fate yet. He's lucky im LAZY! __________________ I think of one later. Current Tank Info: 28G JBJ Nano for sale

01/21/2006, 09:01 PM	#10
2crazyreefers Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Vt. Posts: 733	Sounds like the gorilla crab which is bad news, I'm told they eat acro's. Also I always find corals knocked over every morning. I found a large one in my 125 sps pank about a month ago. Fortunately my 180 will be in monday so when I swap tanks somehow I am going to find the beast and get him out. Good luck with yours. __________________ My 4 part recipie for my acros = calcium - alk - flow & luck.

01/22/2006, 07:08 AM	#11
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	I just saw another little gorilla in the tank last night. Was looking at the tank around 3:30 am with the red flashlight and there he was crawling back under a rock. I can't believe I am stilling finding those buggers!!! __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

01/22/2006, 02:05 PM	#12
chilyb56 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 106	white claws. According the guy at the LFS it's most likely from Florida due to the Fiji curing process... possible that we just never noticed it. He was also pretty sure that it will eventually do something to upset me [destroy it]

01/22/2006, 03:58 PM	#13
integlikewhoa Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Arcadia, CA Posts: 1,381	anyone have a pic of this gorilla crabs u guys are talking about. __________________ I think of one later. Current Tank Info: 28G JBJ Nano for sale

01/22/2006, 04:41 PM	#14
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	__________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

01/22/2006, 05:17 PM	#15
CrazyLionfish Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: IL Posts: 1,627	Chillyb if you get him out, take a picture so we can actulley identify if it is good or bad, if it ends up being good, you might as well keep it. __________________ Matt Current Tank Info: 75 gallon fowlr, 12 gallon, 40 gallon reef

01/22/2006, 05:28 PM	#16
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	Here is a better gorilla crab picture. The one I previously posted looks reddish and that's not what they really look like. I dug through all my old photo's and came up with this...... This guy was just getting ready to slide down into the jar trap that we had set for him. __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

01/22/2006, 05:55 PM	#17
NYBen Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Peru, NY Posts: 773	DOn't know if he looks like this...Not reef safe! At least mine wasn't, He tore through some softies in one night, he was then banished to the sump.

01/22/2006, 06:09 PM	#18
chris2222000 Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Gonzales (b/t New Orleans and Baton Rouge), Louisiana Posts: 334	Ive had a mystery crab in my tank for at least over a year. He kind of shocked me the first time I saw him. I could never catch him so I left him. I have never had any live stock go missing, and all ive "seen" him eat was algae attached to the live rock. He is black and hairy. -Chris __________________ "Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler!" Current Tank Info: 125 Acrylic

01/22/2006, 06:24 PM	#19
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	These darn gorillas are sneaky guys. You can have them in your tank for months and months with no problems. All of a sudden, you get up and you are missing a couple of ricordias....or discosomas....or something. And you know the only "bad" thing in your tank is this little bugger, but trying to get him out is a bear!! The last one I took out, just the other day, was the size of a quarter, and I had never seen him until a couple weeks before. I was going to wait until he got bolder and more used to me. Then the other day I got up with slime all over the center section of the tank and two pink ricordias missing. Nothing else in the tank eats that stuff. I lucked out getting him out. Now I find another tiny gorilla!!! Sheesh!!!! It's like a video game....take out one bad guy and another one pops up to take it's place!!! __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

01/22/2006, 08:44 PM	#20
lossman Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,341	So the lights went out and I turned the moon lights on. After a bit I took a flashlight and searched the tank. Here's what I found. One gorilla crab, two mithrax crabs and a good sized porceline crab. And here I thought the only crab in the tank I had was that little gorilla!! And that's the only one I did not see!!! With 300 lbs lr, who knows what else is there that I cannot see!!! I think I will leave the flashlight alone from now on!!! LOL __________________ Research and learn BEFORE you act !!!, or you'll surely regret it. :) Current Tank Info: 150 gal TBS

01/22/2006, 09:02 PM	#21
chris2222000 Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Gonzales (b/t New Orleans and Baton Rouge), Louisiana Posts: 334	Did you try the glass jar in the sand trap idea : ) -Chris __________________ "Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler!" Current Tank Info: 125 Acrylic

01/22/2006, 10:04 PM	#22
chilyb56 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 106	well I'm not sure what that trap is exactly, but I put a glass at the bottom of the tank with a shrimp pellet in it. Those shrimp pellets are irresistable. We'll see if there's anything in there tomorrow. How does the glass jar sand trap work?

02/22/2006, 08:59 AM	#23
chilyb56 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 106	Well I'm not sure what it was. It kind of looked like one of those gorilla type crabs shown above or one of those teddy bear crabs I've seen in other threads. It had long hairs, but the hairs didn't look to be as thick as the teddy bears. Anyway, I use the past tense because yesterday I recieved an order of snails and clean up crew critters. The nassarius snails are quite small, and I couldn't get the image of the crab dining on my snails out of my head... (and whatever else he might decide to nibble on). So I pulled the piece of LR out of my tank that he hides in, poked him out of his hole with a chopstick, and dropped him into my 6g nanocube mantis tank. It was almost like our mantis (Frank) had been waiting his whole life for this moment to come and jumped the crab immediately... it was a pretty intense moment. That is pretty much that.