Calico Crab

#1
sorry about a double post, my mistake

So I ended up with a calico crab that was headed to the trash at a buddy's place in MT for toppling rock work. Figured at least I could take him to a shop here instead. Well I tossed him in with my lion which is a FOWLR tank that has rock work he can't really hurt. My thought process was that it's something the lion will leave alone and he might do some good picking up anything the lion missed. He quickly buried himself. This was probably a week ago. Since then I've tossed in some half shelled clams which quickly disappear although I've never actually seen the crab eat these things. I just fed my lion and this crab erupted out of the sand like nothing I've seen before. Now I'm concerned. Is this crab a threat to my healthy lion? The lion is easily larger then the crab. My buddy was told this is a "shamefaced calico crab". He acts and looks similar to what I think of a shamefaced, however his claws are symmetrical. I've always thought shamefaced crabs should have one claw that is more designed for busting open shells. Here's a video I found of one similar to what I have. This is not my video and I don't agree with this feeding technique, I'm only using it because it's the best thing I've seen to show the claws.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMtrfcrTLZs

So do I need to get this guy gone asap, or is he ok? He sort of went towards my lion, but I don't know if he was trying to get the lion or the food that was in front of the lion. The lion just wandered away the way lions do.

The other thing is, how often should I drop bits of food specifically for the crab? Never had a serious crab before and pretty much just left them alone to fend for whatever scraps of Rod's Food was left behind for them. I've seen the hermits run, but never really seen a crab be so aggressive before.

Thanks in advance for all of your help.
 

Cake_Boss

Blue Whale
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
RC says, "Not reef safe, they will eat any shrimp or clam that they can get to, very likely to eat your fish at night as well, there are several native species in FL, not sure if that is one of them or not because they all have similar color and habits. the other bad thing about them is they are very strongly nocternal and bury themselves during the day so you never see it, just the destruction they leave. If you have a agressive FOWLR they can be an effective scavenger."

http://www.gulfspecimen.org/SpecPlates2.html
 
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