Commensal Crabs - Love 'em or hate 'em
- Thread starter Mike&Terry
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Mike&Terry
Wrasses, Angels, & Tangs, Oh My!
One of our trapezia crabs has grown so large, he's kind of scary, LOL. His claws are at least an inch in size and he's been with us for about 3 years. I'll have to see if I can coax him out for a pic...
-Terry
-Terry
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I came across this article PLoS ONE: Discovery of the Corallivorous Polyclad Flatworm, Amakusaplana acroporae, on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia which if you can read it to the end and keep awake there is a reference to the "possible" benefit to commensal crabs and the lack of AEFW in the wild.
(from the report)
Coral crabs, belonging to the genus Tetralia, have high occurrence rates on tightly branching acroporids [11] and are known to provide the coral host with cleaning services [36]. It is possible that these crabs may eat the adult worms and egg capsules, thus controlling the worms’ numbers.
I can see a boom market coming, LOL
gea
(from the report)
Coral crabs, belonging to the genus Tetralia, have high occurrence rates on tightly branching acroporids [11] and are known to provide the coral host with cleaning services [36]. It is possible that these crabs may eat the adult worms and egg capsules, thus controlling the worms’ numbers.
I can see a boom market coming, LOL
gea
Last edited:
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Mike&Terry
Wrasses, Angels, & Tangs, Oh My!
I have read that article and thanks for sharing the link for those who may not have seen it. I wish I could buy the Tetralia sp. crabs. I even inquired about them w/Live Aquaria since they sell the Trapezia sp. crabs, but no dice.
-Terry
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Unfortunately they hide so well they seldom survive my dip/QT, Do you have a way to draw them out before dipping?
gea
gea
Upon reading this thread, it seems many people have noted that the crabs " just disappear". I have had that happen also. They seem to be protected by th coral that they choose to live in and I also make sure they have plenty to eat. So my question is why?
Camkha1234
Active Member
Always had problems with crabs. I had an Emerald Crab eat 3 Chromis and a Peppermint Shrimp in a week. He ate them while they were sleeping. I ended up returning him. I also have 5 Hermit Crabs that eat every snail I put in the tank. The only reason why I keep them is because of their personalities 
I don't have any SPSS corals except for 2 types of Monti ATM, but I'm starting an SPS nano reef, so we'll see if I get any non-destructive crabs
I don't have any SPSS corals except for 2 types of Monti ATM, but I'm starting an SPS nano reef, so we'll see if I get any non-destructive crabs 
OP
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Mike&Terry
Wrasses, Angels, & Tangs, Oh My!
We posted this as an update in our build thread last night and thought it might be good to post here as well and sort of bring this thread back to life... :bigsmile:
We were standing in front of the display the other night and saw an unknown, rather large crab try to invade our little blue eyed, hairy coral crab's home. To say he was a fierce defender is an understatement, LOL. We both thought that the coral crab was crazy to go after the big hulking invader and knew he'd be a goner without some intervention. To our amazement and before we were able to intervene, the coral crab ripped the larger beast to shreds.
Here's a closeup of the coral crab (Cymo andreossyi)
He has groomed, sculpted and protected his hyacynthus colony home for several years. here's a shot of the right side of the tank where the colony resides:
We were standing in front of the display the other night and saw an unknown, rather large crab try to invade our little blue eyed, hairy coral crab's home. To say he was a fierce defender is an understatement, LOL. We both thought that the coral crab was crazy to go after the big hulking invader and knew he'd be a goner without some intervention. To our amazement and before we were able to intervene, the coral crab ripped the larger beast to shreds.
Here's a closeup of the coral crab (Cymo andreossyi)
He has groomed, sculpted and protected his hyacynthus colony home for several years. here's a shot of the right side of the tank where the colony resides:
Steviereefs
Well-Known Member
He is Awesome!!! So does he jump out at fish at all. Also I thought that the spiney crabs are bad for the acros
Steviereefs
Well-Known Member
BTW your tank looks awesome, I was cruzing through it, but not every pageLOL, but it looks awesome!!! I cant believe your old tank just drained like that. I like the picture of the tank your club let you use in the garage it look funny in the stand considering it was a 330, was that you old stand?
jedimasterben
Bubble coral sting good
We posted this as an update in our build thread last night and thought it might be good to post here as well and sort of bring this thread back to life... :bigsmile:
We were standing in front of the display the other night and saw an unknown, rather large crab try to invade our little blue eyed, hairy coral crab's home. To say he was a fierce defender is an understatement, LOL. We both thought that the coral crab was crazy to go after the big hulking invader and knew he'd be a goner without some intervention. To our amazement and before we were able to intervene, the coral crab ripped the larger beast to shreds.
Here's a closeup of the coral crab (Cymo andreossyi)
He has groomed, sculpted and protected his hyacynthus colony home for several years. here's a shot of the right side of the tank where the colony resides:
Ahhh, wonderful symbiosis at its finest.
Might I ask what is the large, brilliant green coral in lower half of the second picture? Is it a stylophora?
I am considering these little guys eventually. Anyone know if they do well in small mini colonies or should I wait for my tank to grow out? It is mainly frags and mini colonies right now. Anyone ever have one that hurt any part of their acros?
OP
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Mike&Terry
Wrasses, Angels, & Tangs, Oh My!
He and the fish ignore one another. Our Blue Green Chromis sleeps in the colony at night as well. We have had a few Cymo andreossyi crabs over the years and never experienced any issues with them.
The steel stand was built for the 350g Oceanic beast of a tank you saw in the picture. The tank was sitting backwards on that stand, so does look a bit odd. We needed access to the closed loop bulkheads on the tank in order to hook into our existing sump and refugium.
Ahhh, wonderful symbiosis at its finest.
Might I ask what is the large, brilliant green coral in lower half of the second picture? Is it a stylophora?
We acquired that coral 7 years ago from a local LFS who said it was a "Cactus Coral" (LOL) and they did not know the species name. It was fairly small when we got it (approx 3" branch). It is very hardy and has grown out into several large colonies like the one in the picture since then. There are two colonies in the display, the larger one sits on a rock shelf behind the hyacinthus colony and is not easy to see in pictures. We know the coral is in the Pocillopora genus, but we're not really sure of the species.
You probably want to wait until your mini colonies grow to a size where the crab will stay in the colony and where a bit of polyp nipping and grooming isn't going to cause noticeable damage.
-M&T
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Mike&Terry
Wrasses, Angels, & Tangs, Oh My!
Thank you! We do not try to feed the crabs, but we do feed our fish multiple times per day and naturally a bit of that food does find it's way to the corals.
-M&T
jedimasterben
Bubble coral sting good
I'd kill for a piece of it lol. It's absolutely gorgeous, whatever it actually is.
