Who ate the scarlet crab?

[hray]

In my just-a-couple-weeks-old tank, I have 3 scarlet-legged hermit crabs. On the bottom today are what look like a couple of legs and maybe part of a claw, in among a small stash of empty shells. The empty shells are disturbed, but none are missing.

 

Did someone eat one of my crabs? Might he have been trying on shells and lost some appendages, or molted and decided that his old shell still fit OK?

 

Specs: 15H AGA

2" dead aragonite sand

19# well-cured, LFS rock

2x36 PC lights

mini-jet 404

small HOB filter w/o media

5 astreas and 3 scarlet hermits.

I've seen lots of worms, a few 'pods, LOTS of coraline algae, some green hair algae, a couple hitchhiker snails and a small bristle worm, but no one I'd accuse of eating a hermit so far.

 

Ideas welcome!

 

hray in VA

[lostdog]

It was Mr. Green, in the conservatory, with the candlestick.

[BustytheSnowMaam]

My guess is that s/he molted, and the shed claws you see remaining are too large for anything to break down yet. Mine always molt and go back to their old shells. Have you been able to find it, or are there only 2 left? If one is gone, I would guess it died first and then a bristleworm ate it (based on observations in my tank).

Tasha

[hray]

Thanks Tasha (yes, lostdog, I did say any ideas welcome, but Tasha's was more useful :-))

 

It's good to know they can molt and re-use the same shell. I hope that's what happened.

 

I can only find two crabs at this point, but they have disappeared in the rock for a day or two before. If I don't see it again for a while I guess I know what happened. I don't see its shell, anywhere, though.

 

Hray in VA

[hray]

Don't know where it's been for the past several days, but this morning there was apparently a Scarlet Hermit Conclave going on, with all three crabs in attendance.