Loading ...So what do you do? Do you toss the coral into the garbage bin? Do you sing to it, hoping it would come out of the coral? Do you dip the coral into bleach?
All of those options will result in a white coral. A problem that could have been avoided if you had the knowledge to properly identify your crabby. How do we know which ones are good, and ones to feed to your triggers? Let me help.
Here is a picture of a good crab!
picture courtesy of Reefcorner.com
Here is one of a dried up bad crab!
Bad Acro Crab
The big distinction comes from its physical attributes, and sometimes color. Your good crabs will have very thin elongated claws. These claws do not have any big teeth in them. They are very gentle looking, just like your own hands. Conversely, the bad crab looks like it wants to eat your brain. It has an evil grin, and bluish eyes to boot. But the biggest feature on the bad crab are its giant claws. They look like they can scrape off paint from your fishroom walls. In the above picture you can clearly see how those claws can damage a coral’s skeleton. I have personally witnessed these bad guys munch on corals, and its not pretty. If you are looking for a feature that clearly identifies a bad crab, this would be it.
So before you freak out the next time you see an acro crab, come back here and compare it to the two pictures above. If it has a big, mean looking claw, then tweezer it out. One of my techniques is to try to get the crab to move to the base of the coral, unobstructed by the coral brachlets. This way it will be easier just to tweezer or skewer it out.
Happy hunting reefaholics!
Trained by the thirteenth ring master of the Sian Xiuang Coral Temple. Currently is apprenticing the art of Acropora shaping in the ancient tradition of Ninja Fragging. Known as the SPS hero!
Apparently, some of these hairy crabs are predators but not all are. I think I may have killed many hairy crabs that are harmless..
Although somewhat old, here’s the article – http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/eb/index.php
i recently heard at macna (cannot remember who said it), but squirting the crab with club soda aides in it letting go of its entrenched position. Have not tried it, but am willing to, if i find another.
Very interesting. Keep us posted.
@Steve – That was at Bob Fenner’s talk on hitchhikers.
Excellent little article there mate
Thanks S. Now I feel less good crabs are going to go to waste.