A.m.P Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 This little fellow was sold as a blue-leg in a batch of blue-legs, however it seems to mostly be nocturnal and hides with its' shell-facing out in rock-crevices during the day. Its' growth rate has been alarming compared to the other hermits in the tank and as its' gotten bigger it certainly-doesn't resemble them much either. It has kind of yellow, off-brown-green (bronze?) stripes on white-legs with a mottled white-body and spotted-claw, and bright-orange antennae. It doesn't really look similar to any species I'm familiar with. So far I can't say I've noticed any signs of it being a bad crab for the system, but some snails have seemingly-been thinned out (hard to tell for certain) and I have been having issues with a few corals (and I like to know what's in my tank anyway >_<). Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 20 minutes ago, Amphrites said: This little fellow was sold as a blue-leg in a batch of blue-legs, however it seems to mostly be nocturnal and hides with its' shell-facing out in rock-crevices during the day. Its' growth rate has been alarming compared to the other hermits in the tank and as its' gotten bigger it certainly-doesn't resemble them much either. It has kind of yellow, off-brown-green (bronze?) stripes on white-legs with a mottled white-body and spotted-claw, and bright-orange antennae. It doesn't really look similar to any species I'm familiar with. So far I can't say I've noticed any signs of it being a bad crab for the system, but some snails have seemingly-been thinned out (hard to tell for certain) and I have been having issues with a few corals (and I like to know what's in my tank anyway >_<). Green stripe? 1 Quote Link to comment
A.m.P Posted December 6, 2019 Author Share Posted December 6, 2019 2 minutes ago, mitten_reef said: Green stripe? I don't... think so... There aren't multiple stripes (just one kind of solid-band of color) like you see in photo's online and there's more white than green-ish bronze, the claws also aren't what I would call orange and are instead darker than the color of the legs. Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 I think I was thinking of this one https://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/thin-striped-hermit 1 Quote Link to comment
A.m.P Posted December 6, 2019 Author Share Posted December 6, 2019 Hmmm, maybe, that would explain the growth rate... I feel as if the colors and pattern do not match, however that could be a matter of size and age... @johnmaloney I hate to directly-tag people for my own benefit, but I don't suppose, since you work with and sell the thin-stripes, that you might be able to help solve the mystery? Quote Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 Looks like the hermit from the sea of cortez that is sold as a "Mexican Red Leg Hermit" in the trade. They have somewhat variable coloring, and aren't red really except for a little on the tip of their legs. Their claws are black with bluish white dots. Red antennae, and a band of light blue on their eyes before the pupil. That is what I am seeing on yours. The species the wholesalers carry is not Calcinus californiensis, which has the common name when you google it. I don't know the species name of the one they carry off the top of my head and a quick google search only has the wrong names or genus names. (Also happens to be listed under more than one genus depending on source). If you are interested in the species name I can probably run it down for you this weekend. Quote Link to comment
A.m.P Posted December 6, 2019 Author Share Posted December 6, 2019 58 minutes ago, johnmaloney said: Looks like the hermit from the sea of cortez that is sold as a "Mexican Red Leg Hermit" in the trade. They have somewhat variable coloring, and aren't red really except for a little on the tip of their legs. Their claws are black with bluish white dots. Red antennae, and a band of light blue on their eyes before the pupil. That is what I am seeing on yours. The species the wholesalers carry is not Calcinus californiensis, which has the common name when you google it. I don't know the species name of the one they carry off the top of my head and a quick google search only has the wrong names or genus names. (Also happens to be listed under more than one genus depending on source). If you are interested in the species name I can probably run it down for you this weekend. I haven't seen any red tips on the crab, and the legs themselves aren't that spotted-mottled pattern you see with red/blue legs, at least that I'm familiar with. The legs have a single, colored side, the front for most of it, alternating to the outside edge on the back legs. The reddish-tint in the pictures is an artifact of low-light I think. Quote Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 Should have said on the tip of the claw in my post. Quote Link to comment
A.m.P Posted December 6, 2019 Author Share Posted December 6, 2019 Oh, I'll check it out tonight and see if I spot any red on the claws, hopefully not a thin-striped as I certainly don't have the tank for one haha. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 It's not a blue legged. Blue legged are definitely blue with little odd spots. Looks like a green striped hermit also called thin stripe 1 Quote Link to comment
A.m.P Posted December 6, 2019 Author Share Posted December 6, 2019 47 minutes ago, Clown79 said: It's not a blue legged. Blue legged are definitely blue with little odd spots. Looks like a green striped hermit also called thin stripe I'm starting to lean that way myself unfortunately lol. Quote Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted December 6, 2019 Share Posted December 6, 2019 2 hours ago, Amphrites said: I'm starting to lean that way myself unfortunately lol. Looking at it again I think maybe it is worth checking an antillean hermit clibanarius antillensis if the light isn't right? Anyway, I have to run back to packing. It doesn't look like a thin stripe to me. 1 Quote Link to comment
A.m.P Posted December 6, 2019 Author Share Posted December 6, 2019 47 minutes ago, johnmaloney said: Looking at it again I think maybe it is worth checking an antillean hermit clibanarius antillensis if the light isn't right? Anyway, I have to run back to packing. It doesn't look like a thin stripe to me. First google result nailed-it. Thanks a ton, I was starting to think maybe I was being overly-specific about the striping and coloration of the legs but I'd say that's definitely the animal.http://crustiesfroverseas.free.fr/illustration.php?n=10&irenavID=6224https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=4444+4444+0910+0165 Seems they're not likely to be reef-safe as they're listed as an "omnivore" with a preference for carrion and meaty-foods and "benthos" (ie. anything they can grab lol), out it'll go this weekend. That'd explain the missing dwarf ceriths, haven't seen it so much as look at corals so far at least. That particular species was not listed in the 200-page pdf I went through last night at-all for gulf-coast crustaceans... What are your opinions on their diet if you don't mind helping out just a touch more =p? I see that they grow to nearly-double the size of the blue-legs which concerns me. Apart from some massive PDF's I've yet to ctrl+F through from various research institutions this is the best I can find on them, not exactly detailed or well-sourced, though this particular German site has been pretty solid with other animals I've looked up.https://www.reeflex.net/tiere/3621_Clibanarius_antillensis.htm Update: The PDF's were no-go's, lots of information - but nothing on their diet. Quote Link to comment
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