March 19 2005:

Crabs!

We found 2 new crabs in our tank this week. We have no idea how long they have been there. Here's the first one. I think it's some kind of mithrax crab, but the closeup of the claw shows it might have some barbs in there to catch swimming prey, so we're keeping an eye on it. Considering how slowly it moves, I have a hard time believing it could catch anything but algae (which is all we ever see it eating). It only comes out after the main lights go out, so these pictures (camera pointed into a dark tank!) are not so great.

Here's the second crab, aka the evil crab. We noticed it when we moved the clam to a new location, and it started picking at the clam! we haven't managed to trap it yet. Again not a great picture, especially since it's almost the same color as the rock.

A related post on ReefCentral can be found here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=551942