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Crab ID!

W

Whitebird1

420_31_12_07_1_04_48.jpg

Description: Wild caught, NJ canyon, 120 miles out in 1000ft+ of water. floating in Sargasso weed. Bright orange! very similar to a blueclaw crab in shape Currently living in my sump. has not bothered any softy's. Anyone get a ID?
Currently smaller then a silver dollar. Reef safe???
Greg
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

Agree...

portunid_crab_600.jpg

Sorry - all crabs with the paddle features on the back are a dead giveaway of the portunid family/species and none of them are reef safe.

I know it may sound in-humane but you're better off freezing the guy for a quick death. I dunno what kind of fauna you have in your tank - but if there's a pacific parasite that latched onto your crab -releasing it back may end up decimating the native crabs out there.... The scenario is highly unlikely - but then again - there are a ton of invasive species that don't belong because of good intentions.
 
W

Whitebird1

Greg, Phil you two nailed it on ID. Not much info on line yet. Phil not invasive, I collected it off NJ, Atlantic native. been in the sump over a month, bristle worms eliminated. i am hoping to find any experience of captivity, very nice critter.
Greg
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

I'd imagine it is omnivorous - though a steady diet of worms and if you are generous - frozen shrimp/silversides would be fine. It (like all inverts) will need appropriate calcium in order to shed its shell.

Only concern I'd have is that it is likely not used to tropical temps year round...I know the atlantic can be pretty warm - but not year round.

Oh and I wasn't concerned about the crab being invasive - more that if there was some unknown crab parasite in your tank - and then re-leasing the crab with that parasite...anyways...do you know if the abodomen is round or thin? I'd imagine it's similar to a blue crab - you could figure out the sex. I believe this is the time of year when many blues are breeding so if you have a female - might have some eggs.
 
GregW

GregW

phil519 said:
Only concern I'd have is that it is likely not used to tropical temps year round...I know the atlantic can be pretty warm - but not year round.
Click to expand...

found some info that says they're from the Caribbean, Bahamas, and Florida. That was some ride on a clump of weeds!
 
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