Porcelain crab & Coral

[thehickreefer]

Will a porcelain crab host coral or only anemones? If they will host corals, what kinds and how common is it? If not, what kinds of anemones will they host best?

 

[Stomatopods17]

Porcelain anemone crabs I've never heard of forming any symbiotic relationships with coral, while the blue/red porcelains tend to not be symbiotes anything and just hide in rock crevices.

Any anemone would do afaik, they've been encountered in the wild being hosted by a large variety of anemones.

 

[jolthoff]

Porcelain anemone crabs I've never heard of forming any symbiotic relationships with coral, while the blue/red porcelains tend to not be symbiotes anything and just hide in rock crevices.

Any anemone would do afaik, they've been encountered in the wild being hosted by a large variety of anemones.

Porcelain anemone crabs will sometimes inhabit hairy mushroom corals, and probably more.

 

[MtnDewMan]

Mine sometimes enjoys hanging with my torches.

 

[JoJosReef]

Mine for the longest time sat on my mint pavona until an RFA wandered uo to his rock, and now it is his

 

[JTP424]

My guy snuggles up wherever is coziest.

 

[Alexraptor]

I used to have on that actually chose my Brain coral over an anemone in the tank. Tried several times to move him to the anemone, but in the end he was always back, sitting on the Brain!

 

[Cheezle]

Will a porcelain crab host coral or only anemones? If they will host corals, what kinds and how common is it? If not, what kinds of anemones will they host best?

Mine lived in zoas, a torch, a Duncan and eventually my bubble tip anemones.

 

[TopClamSkoo]

I gave mine back to the store... Caught the lil bas$#@d eating my hammer!

 

[cpoynter]

These guys will not survive in my tank, and I don’t know why. I really wish they would. Not sure what kills them, but they just start falling apart.
I’ve got sexy shrimp, an unidentified anemone shrimp from reef cleaners, a regular Caribbean porcelain crab, a pom pom crab, several serpent stars, a cherub fish, and two Banggai Cardinals. Everyone else does just fine, but putting a porcelain anemone crab (white) in my tank is a death sentence.

 

[Bucs20fan]

They LOVE Lps corals. One of my two porcelain crabs decided none of the 12 rock flowers I have are suitable homes and sits on the stalk of one of my torch corals. So yes, they will host corals.

 

[Tony Thompson]

I often see the term "porcelain crab" create some confusion. The two distinct genus I have come across in the trade are Neopetrolisthes which included species in the top pic, living in my anemone farm. The other genus being petrolisthes which contains many more species and therefore I would assume possible difference in habitats between species.

The second picture is a species of petrolisthes that I sold in my store.

PS. IME the anemone porcelain crab just like clown fish will often take up residence in a broad range of corals. Also, like clownfish, a anemone host is not critical.

Also it is a contention that they may not be true crabs, they are more related to squat lobsters. I include a picture of one of my squat lobsters (criniod hosting species)

For clarity and if anyone is interested, I just did a quick search, saves you the time and quicker than reaching for a book. The confusion may be due to the term "porcelain crab" which refers to a whole family level, so many genus and many many species. Porcellanidae (Haworth, 1825) Worms Register 06734 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:106734)

 

[Tony Thompson]

These guys will not survive in my tank, and I don’t know why. I really wish they would. Not sure what kills them, but they just start falling apart.
I’ve got sexy shrimp, an unidentified anemone shrimp from reef cleaners, a regular Caribbean porcelain crab, a pom pom crab, several serpent stars, a cherub fish, and two Banggai Cardinals. Everyone else does just fine, but putting a porcelain anemone crab (white) in my tank is a death sentence.

Although it would be impossible for me to ascertain why your attempts at keeping this species has been unsuccessful. You mentioned "falling apart".

This would lead me to think (besides normal moulting) aggression from something in the tank.

That may be why they get the name porcelain, as they break very easily. This may possibly (I don't Know) be a defensive ploy to escape and grow a new claw on moult, but as yours disintegrate it 'may be' continued aggression.

My advice for anyone having difficulty keeping a particular species is " there are many many other species to try, just enjoy the ones you are successful with"

Enjoy your current critters, I love crustaceans.

 

[Tony Thompson]

For anyone interested here is an interesting article from someone much more knowledgeable than myself, Britney Kocken University of Wisconsin. The links on the side provide a wealth of information about the Neopetrolisthes (anemone porcelain carb)

Classification
Habitat and Geography
Adaptions
Interactions with others
Additional Facts
References

Spotted Porcelain Crab

 

[cpoynter]

but as yours disintegrate it 'may be' continued aggression.

Oh, I’m pretty sure something is killing them - which is why after a couple, I’ve stopped trying to keep them.