So I've had this little guy since I started my aquarium about 3 months ago. He rarely comes out of this rock and I'm lucky to have snagged a picture (even though it's a terrible picture). He lives with two pistol shrimp that I've only seen about 2 times total.

I circled the crab in the picture, and the arrow points to some close by zoas which he has not touched since theyve been in there. Sometimes I feed him if he's poking his head out and he doesn't seem too aggressive. I was told if the crab is hairy(which it is) then it's harmful, but all i can say is he's the nicest lil guy ever.

oh yeah, if you cant tell from the pic, he's kinda reddish brown, and his claws dont seem to be very pointy, but they arent very round either.

and sorry about the terrible picture, my camera and my tank dont get along

I really have no idea. But I have to say, porcelain crab popped into my mind when I saw the photo.

Looks kind of furry and the claw on the left looks pretty long...

I put a dollar on it being a xanthid species.

xanthids are bad correct? would it be aggressive to any other types of coral/small shrimps? Do these types of crabs moult? I found a dead crab that was right outside of this guys home one day.

anyone else have any input? please and thank you

I can't say with complete certainty that it is one, but given it's general shape and the fact that they seem to be amongst the most common of crab hitchhikers, I'm leaning towards xanthid still.

@moulting, all crustaceans(that I know of) moult.

-insert mandatory link to Chuck's Addiction crab ID page here-

All crabs moult - so it wasn't a dead one - just him doing his thing and growing! I work at a LFS and we actually have a guy that looks just like this, but have no idea what he is. We have decided to keep him as a disgruntled store pet because we hear he is bad, but have no evidence of this. He lives in a big peice of live rock and really loves hotdogs. thats all i have.

hahaha that's awesome

so far, that's been exactly what i've observed. He has most of the features of a xanthid, but he has made no attempt at murdering my zoas, which are seriously right next to his home rock. plus, my cleaner shrimp scares him more than anything, he's a big baby

take em out of the tank....i trust no crabs, ive even removed my hermits....

LOL moult....you mean molt right?

i have a tender spot for crabs, before my saltwater tank, I would usually have hermits, and after I grew out of hermits, I played with fiddler crabs.

taking this dude out seems to be a problem, mainly because he's a very good hider, and hes such a sissy that I can't get close to the tank without him running away.

yes, i meant molt, it was a typo on my part.. seemed to be a popular typo

dont hate! crabs r cool!

+1 to no crabs. I also removed all - including hermits - from my tank. So sick of them stealing the food right out of the mouths of my coral... specifically my acans!!!

amen

then again, so are green brittle stars... i found out the hard way