Acro crabs

[Kwater]

One came with this new acro i got. Just wondering what is the care requirments sutch as feeding. And what is the symbolic relationship. The acro he is on is a small frag but he dose not leave it. Same with the other acro crabs at the store. They never leave them. Y

 

[dcantucson]

An added bonus! I love those little crabs. The acropora offers protection for them.

 

[Kwater]

I agree. But how does the acro benifit from the crab. Or is it a one way relationship

 

[yote]

Not sure what the crab gets out of the relationship with the coral,besides a home..

 

[Bifferwine]

The crab will keep the acro clean and protect it from potential predators, and the acro will house the crab. I used to have one (see the POTM gallery for Sebastian, a proud former POTM winner!). They rarely, if ever, leave their coral.

 

[Kwater]

I will try and find your pic. Thanks for the help but a few last things is does the crab agrovate the coral and will the acro crab ever leave the acro to live in another near by acro. And do they reproduce in captivity.

 

[yote]

The crab wont bother the coral at all.And for the reproducing,I guess they could,but I doubt the larval would survive to reach adulthood.

 

[Bifferwine]

Here was my Sebastian:

 

[Bifferwine]

Wow that came out tiny :( Click on it to see full size.

 

[Kwater]

Wow i see y it won. Nice pic. My crab is brown wirh brown fuzzy legs but im shure they dont all look the same.

 

[winyfrog]

try to get a pic, good acro crabs don't have fuzzy legs. They should look like the one that biff had.

You may have a bad crab that will also hide in the acro until it get bigger then it will move on and be distructive.

 

[Kwater]

Strange bwcause there were alot of them at the lfs and they were positive they were acro crabs. Also the one i have now moved to a diffrent acro colony

 

[winyfrog]

Keep a close eye on it. Watch your polyps closely to be sure that it doesn't pick at them, the polyps should continue to come out even where the crabs hangs out. I have never had good luck with any crabs that have hairy legs.

There are good acro crabs that are beneficial which have smooth legs then the acro crabs that have hairy legs which actually feed off the coral instead of cleaning it.

 

[dcantucson]

So hairy legs are a bad thing? :shock:
Guess I'll go shave. :mrgreen: