Hermit Crab Identification

[Brendan Reeves]

I went to my lfs and asked for some reef safe hermits, let the guy do the choosing, he gave me 3 of these and told me they wouldn’t bother coral. Added a zoa that came in the mail, possible some dead polyps and they came swarming, they didn’t seem to go for the healthy looking polyps but I’m not sure. I can’t seem to figure out what kind of hermit crab it is and they’re currently closed and don’t want to wait to find out if they are actually safe. Here is a picture attached. I’d appreciate any information on it. 

[nano_izzy]

looks like a mexican red leg hermit to me 

[Brendan Reeves]

Thanks for the quick response! Do you know if it’s reef safe?

[nano_izzy]

yeah no problem. seems with a quick google search that most retailers state they’re reef safe. if i were you i’d do a little digging around and see what other people say about them. 

[Brendan Reeves]

Yeah, that’s what I read but I’ve also read that about the strawberry crab which isn’t truly reef safe. I’ll read what actually reefers say about them before making my mind up on them. I appreciate it again. What a great community to have questions answered so fast 

[nano_izzy]

yeah you’re best bet will be other hobbyists experience. you’re welcome, hopefully the lil dude won’t cause you anymore troubles. 

[Lognor]

I've found that the crabs usually check out any new coral as soon as they know it's there and start cleaning it.  Other than annoying the coral they're trampling they don't damage them, just clean up any algae or other stuff they find tasty.  From my perspective, they're doing me a favor.  Better they clean the thing then whatever might be on it spreading.  Even after a dip.

[mcarroll]

I generally only trust the little blue-legged hermits, and even then I keep a very small number of them.....like 1 per 50 gallons or so.

 

Not positive on the ID of yours unfortunately......"could be" the so-called red-legged hermit.  (Not to be confused with the scarlet hermit.)