Florida Crab ID

[ThePurple12]

Got this guy this summer as a hitchhiker in some mud I brought home from a Florida grass flat. When I first found him in my refugium a few months ago, he was probably half the current size. I’ve been feeding Reef Frenzy.
Anyone know what he is?

btw I also posted this in the invert section.

 

[ThePurple12]

I’m thinking stone crab.

 

[mtfish]

Definitely a xanthid crab (which includes stone crabs) but do not think it is a stone crab. Those guys are hard to key out especially with just a photo. How big is the crab now? Any way to take a top down photo of the carapace?

 

[ThePurple12]

 

[ThePurple12]

How’s that?

Right now its body is about an inch, not including legs.

 

[Tired]

Looks like maybe a stone crab? Keep him! If he's in your 'fuge anyway, he can't eat anything. He'll get big and neat, and if you train him to come take food from tongs, you have a cool pet to show people.

And depending on what he is, he'll either get to be several inches across, or bigger than your hand. Fun to have.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Im thinking Florida Mangrove crab.

 

[mtfish]

OK, to key this sucker out you have to look at mouth parts at the start of the key. Not going to do that since you want to keep him alive! Look up pictures of Hexapanopeus paulensis and see if it comes close. Good clean up crew if you leave him in the sump.

 

[ThePurple12]

You have a good knowledge of crabs! The only image I could find is one of Hexapanopeus angustifrons, which looks very similar to mine. So we can conclude it's from that genus at least.

I noticed him eating hair algae just now, which was pretty surprising.

 

[TriggerFinger]

very cool looking crab! I wouldn’t have guessed it was an algae eater but that’s a double score!

 

[Tired]

I guarantee you, that crab is an algae-and-other-things eater. Many are, especially when small. Never trust anything with heavy claws like that, though, the claws exist for a reason. He should definitely stay in the fuge.

 

[ThePurple12]

I believe it!