There is surprisingly little information specifically about coral crabs in aquaria. Every now and then some hitchhikers arrive on our aquacultured and wild corals and we are able to gain a bit more insight into the life of coral crabs.
Some crabs like the pale faceTetralia cinctipescan be beneficial to our SPS corals while others like the Gorilla crab can irritate coral and even try take a nip at our fish as they get bigger. Good or bad we’ve come up with a breakdown of some of the commonly found hitchhikers and what you can do if you find them on your corals.
可以在Acropora, Pocillopora, Stylophora和Seriatopora(Birdnest)珊瑚。这些珊瑚螃蟹通常会更喜欢一种珊瑚,并将被发现独特地生活在该物种中。最常见的好珊瑚蟹是Tetralia和Trapezia物种,发现多种居住在同一珊瑚的螃蟹的种类并不常见。
Tetralia和Trapezia可以在珊瑚宿主的分支中发现珊瑚蟹,或成对生活,并将珊瑚捍卫其他螃蟹或predators like starfish. These crabs do not harm the coral, rather they feed off nutrient rich mucus produced by the coral. Many hobbyist may not realize that珊瑚crabs provide a beneficial symbiotic relationshipwith the corals and that you can evenpurchase coral crabs添加到您的家庭水族馆。
You may have already come across the Pale face coral crab (Tetralia cinctipes), which is easily identified by its white body with a distinctive black line running across the crabs face. These crabs are often found living at the base of the coral tucked in between the branches, feel free to leave these little guys living in your coral as they are no harm to your coral or your aquarium.
If you do wish to keep these good crabs in your aquarium you will want to remove them from the coral前you dip, as coral dips will shock the crabs into coming off the coral host, or outright kill them. You can use any thin tool you have to gently coax the crab out of the coral and into a holding container with some saltwater while you dip.
We recently came across a fewPocillopora和Acropora我们在这里为您添加了一些未鉴定的好螃蟹的珊瑚,浸入了珊瑚,然后将它们放回系统中。珊瑚蟹仍然没有指南,因此识别这些小家伙可能会很棘手。
但是,众所周知,这一切都不是好的,您必须在寻找一只螃蟹,因为这只毛茸茸的野兽会在珊瑚纸上嚼东西,直到您一无所有。大猩猩螃蟹(Xanthid sp。)主要在Acropora,我们从未见过这种物种发生在Pocillopora, Stylophora要么Seriatopora.
大猩猩蟹很容易被圆形的旋钮,蓝眼睛和毛茸茸的大猩猩腿识别。发现它后,您将需要立即去除大猩猩螃蟹,因为大猩猩螃蟹长到更大的尺寸,它们会造成礁石坦克中的一定破坏,并开始捕食较小的礁石坦克动物(如鱼类或虾类)。您可以通过刺伤身体然后去除螃蟹从珊瑚中去除大猩猩螃蟹。
One crab we did not find this time but have seen in the past is the Gall crab. These small crabs are found exclusively onSeriatopora并将被发现钻进珊瑚的身体。如果您碰巧找到胆蟹,它们的小尺寸似乎不会对珊瑚造成威胁,因此取决于您该怎么做。