need help id these 2 things..

this morning i saw 1 bug looking thing on my tank.. then tonight i saw 2..

. i know the pic is really bad.. but i just can't seem to get a clear pic of the bug..(its like brownish in color.. other than that not sure what to say, hope its not ISOPODS as i can't seem to see any big black eyes)

bug1.JPG

Then i found this crab...out in the open...(the legs on the crab looks hairy, its got one huge right claw, and one normal left claw)

IMG_0294c.jpg

question is.. are they reef safe?

Thanks

 

Is your rock from the gulf coast? I cant help with the bug other than it just looks like some type of amphiopod to me but the crab looks like it might be a juvy stone crab. If that's what kind of crab it is they aren't reef safe and get big enough to eat.

 

Yeah the crab is no good ( look at the meat hooks he's got lol). Usually if they have hook like claws like that its a bad sign....

Is the "bug" snail like? Or does it swim?

 

it swims.. i think its some kinda isopod..will take a better look.

 

Have you caught it out of the main tank?

 

That's a sphaeromatid isopod, a micro-grazer, and harmless. It's the marine equivalent of the roly-poly/pill bug in the garden.

It's much easier to id crabs from the top rather than the bottom!

 

For those of you who don't know Leslie, she is an invertebrate ID expert at LACM, and a super-expert on worms. Welcome!

 

Welcome Leslie! It'll be nice havin an certified ID expert around here! Lol

(An sorry for the thread jack Icewall)

 

Kinda figuired she knows her stuff what with all the latin names being thrown out there. Welcome to 3reef Leslie!

 

Thanks Don, everyone. There just aren't enough id posts on any one board to satisfy my invert craving so I had to expand onto 3Reef. Besides, if Don is here it must be a good place!