Ok.. got crabs ;)

[J-P]

I HAD 5 little blue legged hermits in my tank... we really loved them. I now have 2 left. When I was feeding the tank, I found a different crab. It looked like a pea crab (about the size if the blue legged and the same color as the coraline algae) that was harassing the blue legged crabs over the food.

Most of my experience that inverts should be kept in species only tanks. I am just wondering / wanting to confirm if these 2 species are not compatible. The pea crab seems to be able to tear apart the hermits if it so chooses....

Thanks in advance.

BTW ... this is a 5 gal gold fish bowl tank. I am surprised the little bugger has survived this long without food (I only feed about once every 3 months).

[Lyvea]

Well...crabs are opportunistic, so it's not necessarily that the pea crab and the hermits aren't compatible, but if you're not feeding them, then I wouldn't be surprised if they cannibalized each other or were eaten by the pea crab. Also, if they grew and didn't have a shell to move into, they would have been exposed and vulnerable, and often get eaten by something else in that case. Understanding that this is a 5gal bowl with minimal maintenance, I'd still feed a few sinking pellets once or twice a week for the crabs.

[Muttley000]

Can we see a pic of him?

[J-P]

And got photos!!! I hope they are of good enough quality.

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It does seem to be a male crab. I searched google images and don't see anything exactly the same. Those 2 distinctive white lines at the top of the head.

Similar spices seems to be Hemigrapsus but still unsure....

I never really fed the hermits because they were constantly grazing on the live rock. On occasion would would toss in a pellet but more often than not they didn't go for it. I have too many shells in there for them.. all my assassin snail shells went into that tank when we changed over. I just never had any clue that this little guy was in there. I opened up a can of my GSP food to test out and they went nuts for it and then I saw HIM.. going after the hermit. Maybe he needs a HER to tone down a bit Or thought the hermits were female? LOL!!

[Muttley000]

A her makes everything worse, you should know that by now Thanks for the pics, I'm no ID expert, but I do like looking at pictures!

[Cronamator]

thats definitely one opportunistic crab. i think you're going to experience problems w most additions to that tank. either way, its cute...i would find a way to make it work.