Little Crab Found Inside Snail...what is it?

[madducks42]

We got a bunch of snails yesterday and I was checking on a few today that haven’t moved much. I pulled a turbo snail out of the tank and while checking to see if it was alive discovered there was one, possibly two, little crabs inside it! Any idea what they are? I’ve checked some hitchhiker guides but haven’t found anything that looks like them yet. My thought was that it was eating the snail but if it’s harmless I’ll put it back in the tank.

 

[madducks42]

After reading a few other posts I think it's a pea crab but I haven't found anything yet about whether they're good or bad.

 

[Dsnakes]

Pea crab looks similar from what I can see. I find those in my oysters ;Woot

 

[madducks42]

Pea crab looks similar from what I can see. I find those in my oysters ;Woot

Will it wipe out my snail population if I put it back? It's kind of cute so I'd like to give it a home somewhere, lol. I could always put it in the sump I guess.

 

[Dsnakes]

Will it wipe out my snail population if I put it back? It's kind of cute so I'd like to give it a home somewhere, lol. I could always put it in the sump I guess.

I would probably sump him to be safe. Perhaps someone on the #reefsquad has ran across them before.

 

[DoobDob]

Ah there he is, cute little guy, he looks like the one I found.

 

[Jr'sReef]

He looks ready for the sump lol

 

[gipa21982]

I would probably sump him to be safe. Perhaps someone on the #reefsquad has ran across them before.

I

 

[Actup85]

From what I just looked up definitely looks like a pea crab .if it is its parasitic and could possibly harm the host .lol learn something new every day in this hobby.

 

[madducks42]

Into the sump it went. No idea if it will survive and it’s so tiny that it will be hard to find but I don’t want to risk the rest of our snails. Not sure if the snail I pulled it out of will survive, it’s not looking too good. Not sure if that’s because the crab was feeding on it and the damage was done or if the shipping/acclimation was just too much for it.

Now I’m curious how many of our other snails have had these little crabs in them. They’re so small they’d be easy to miss.