Crab I'd

[Salty87]

OK so i have a tiny 5 gal tank setup to qt my macro algae. Didn't touch it after it got infected with ich due to me cross contaminating it. It currently houses a small piece of live rock that has feather caulerpa attached and another piece of unidentified green macro algae. So it's been close to a month of basically letting nature take its course with it.

I usually find some new critter that's popped up in there (copepods, bristle worms etc. Today I found this little guy. Don't know if it's beneficial or harmful. About 5 mm in diameter and residing in the unknown algae. Any help in identifying him is appreciated.

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[blaxsun]

From what I can tell, you'll probably want him as a sump crab.

 

[Salty87]

He ll likely end up in my Hob refugium along with the macro algae. Thanks for the advice. Just wanted to know if he's a pest and if I should remove him.

 

[Cantusaurus]

It might be a pitho crab. But yeah I wouldn’t add it to your reef directly, but I’d keep him in a refugium
it’s kinda hard to tell exactly what he is. He could also maybe be a baby shore crab or some sort of big crab species.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Black pointy tips on the crabs pinchers aren't a good sign.
If it's hairy it's a no.
Red eyes are also a teller for a no crab. Aka gorilla crab. Hths you

From what I can see in the picture the crab appears to be smooth and have kool markings. I'd prob leave it be until I caught it munching something I wanted to keep. Lol
D

 

[Salty87]

It might be a pitho crab. But yeah I wouldn’t add it to your reef directly, but I’d keep him in a refugium
it’s kinda hard to tell exactly what he is. He could also maybe be a baby shore crab or some sort of big crab species.

Yup he's going to be a refugium resident. He's likely come in a larval state or something as he definitely wasn't there a month ago

 

[Salty87]

Black pointy tips on the crabs pinchers aren't a good sign.
If it's hairy it's a no.
Red eyes are also a teller for a no crab. Aka gorilla crab. Hths you

From what I can see in the picture the crab appears to be smooth and have kool markings. I'd prob leave it be until I caught it munching something I wanted to keep. Lol
D

Yup I was worried about him being a gorilla but as you said doesn't have the hairy carapace. He can munch away at the caulerpa as much as he wants lol