Help I.D. this Hitchhiker

Hey guys and gals! So I was just changing out the filter floss on my HOB filter/fuge and after I pulled out the white floss I took a closer look and it obviously seems like some sort of crab was attached to it. I'm just not sure what kind or if it is reef safe or not?And whether I should put it back into my tank or not. Any help with the I.D. would be awesome

 

It looks like Tetralia glaberrima or something from the genus Tetralia or Trapezia. If it is the Tetralia glaberrima they are considered reef safe so long as you feel crabs can be reef safe.

Check out Crab Hitch Hikers it has pictures of a bunch of hitchhikers you may be able to see something that looks a little more like the one you have.

 

Thanks for the link! In reference to that it looks like the second group of pictures under Portunidae (swimming crab).

 

I thought it really looked like that as well and figured it had to get to the floss somehow, but couldn't really see the back legs very well and what i did see didn't look like the ones in the picture.

Glad the link helped!

 

Yeah I just put that aquaclear 70 in the tank no more than two weeks ago. I integrated that white floss, pura pad, and a carbon filter floss about a week or so ago and it made it into the HOB/fuge somehow without getting chewed up by the impeller. Never seen a crab like that before in my tank and for now I threw him back into the filter because he can't make it back out of there into the tank unless i find him and get him back out. Still a little wary if I want him in the tank or not.

 

totally unrelated to the ID or reef safe issue, that crab is too CUTE!

 

never trust a crab.

 

I thought he was pretty cool myself and it's a mystery on how he arrived in the filter but for now he is back in the filter. I figure he is safe in there and can still receive food and in the case he is harmful he is away from everything else in my tank

 

Really cool looking crab.

But, filter floss?

 

+1 -- I agree on this one, the crab is definitely a neat find, and I would keep him for the time being.. but the filter floss is just one more place for food and other crap to build up, decay, and turn stinky.