Can anyone ID this decorator crab - is it actually reef safe?

[Land&Sea]

As the title states, I’m curious if this is actually reef safe and what kind of decorator crab it is - seller says it’s “100% reef safe” but can’t give me genus or any other info really, such as: Max size? Aggression? Etc?

Any info would be very much appreciated. Thanks a lot!!

 

[Paul B]

I have one of those but have no idea what type of crab it is.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

This crab is from the taxonomic subfamily Pisinae, but there are several dozen genuses in the subfamily, and I'm not familiar with all of them - so that's the best I can do for an ID for now.

I can tell you that no decorator crab is 100% reef-safe - they decorate themselves and sometimes they may use corals, sessile inverts like sponges or tunicates, ornamental macroalgae, etc. Additionally, they are crabs, so I would expect them to be prone to opportunistic predation.

That said, the crabs I am familiar with in the subfamily do stay pretty small, so I wouldn't expect major issues with predation.

Personally, I would guess the crab would be reef-safe-with-caution.

 

[Land&Sea]

I have one of those but have no idea what type of crab it is.

He’s a BEAUT!! Love him!!

 

[Land&Sea]

This crab is from the taxonomic subfamily Pisinae, but there are several dozen genuses in the subfamily, and I'm not familiar with all of them - so that's the best I can do for an ID for now.

I can tell you that no decorator crab is 100% reef-safe - they decorate themselves and sometimes they may use corals, sessile inverts like sponges or tunicates, ornamental macroalgae, etc. Additionally, they are crabs, so I would expect them to be prone to opportunistic predation.

That said, the crabs I am familiar with in the subfamily do stay pretty small, so I wouldn't expect major issues with predation.

Personally, I would guess the crab would be reef-safe-with-caution.

Thanku so much for the info. I know no crab is 100% reef safe. But, the size is what I really worried about. Didn’t want to buy some baby spider crab that would eventually get huge. I think I’m gonna pull the trigger on him though. Tbh, if he wants to thin out my zoa’s, mushrooms and sponges, I’m all for it, haha! But if he’s gonna mess with any of my LPS/SPS, that’s going to be a major problem for me

 

[Stomatopods17]

Sponge decorators.

I had one that literally stayed in the exact same spot not moving at all for a full month, only eventually moving when an angelfish died and it scavenged the remains.

IME unlike other decorators they literally stay specific to sponges, they never seem to decorate with other surroundings.

 

[Land&Sea]

Oh, by any chance, do you know if these guys will eat bristleworms like an arrow crab? Because that would be great!

 

[Land&Sea]

Sponge decorators.

I had one that literally stayed in the exact same spot not moving at all for a full month, only eventually moving when an angelfish died and it scavenged the remains.

IME unlike other decorators they literally stay specific to sponges, they never seem to decorator with other surroundings.

Thanku!!

 

[Stomatopods17]

Doubtful.

For bristleworm control; arrow crabs are the most effective but they're opportunist and may kill fish if they're slow to catch.

I'd just ignore the bristleworms, they're nice pipe cleaners in the rock. Their population can grow nuts but eventually the population crashes itself when there's too many and some outcompete the rest. They're harmless to other livestock, just don't touch them.

 

[Land&Sea]

Doubtful.

For bristleworm control; arrow crabs are the most effective but they're opportunist and may kill fish if they're slow to catch.

I'd just ignore the bristleworms, they're nice pipe cleaners in the rock. Their population can grow nuts but eventually the population crashes itself when there's too many and some outcompete the rest. They're harmless to other livestock, just don't touch them.

No, I know they’re harmless. I really don’t mind them being in my aquarium at all, and totally agree that they’re extremely beneficial (especially for my sand bed). I just wish there was a natural means of ridding my tank of the giants. 2” & under I’m fine with… but once they hit that 4”+ mark, I could definitely do without those guys. And so i just figured/hoped a relative of the spider crab would possibly eat them considering that’s what I’d catch (all tangled up in my line) when we used to use sand worms (the much larger, meaner cousins of our harmless bristleworms that have the giant pinchers that come out of their mouths) to catch flounder. Oh well. Not a deal breaker. Just hopeful thinking! it seems nothing, that’s reef safe, will touch them once they reach a certain size, & then they just keep on growing, lol! Not even my melanurus wrasse or my neon dottyback I “rescued” named Psycho Killer will eat them. And I’ve seen him slurp down some pretty large ones. But not THAT big I even got an arrow crab a while back…the biggest one I could find. And he was a complete let down. Wasn’t interested in them at all. Murphy’s law I guess?