Gall crab?

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Just pulled this off my acanto. Is it a gall crabs? @ISpeakForTheSeas ? @EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal ? @encrustingacro? Will they reproduce? Please help, my Acanthophyllia hasn't been fully open the last few weeks and I think this is why. Will it recover? Is it a gall crab?
20231113_215528.jpg
 
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vetteguy53081

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Just pulled this off my acanto. Is it a gall crabs? @ISpeakForTheSeas? Will they reproduce? Please help, my Acanthophyllia hasn't been fully open the last few weeks and I think this is why. Will it recover? Is it a gall crab?
20231113_215528.jpg
Looks like one. Often they bury themselves within coral and eat algae.
 
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How did you find it? Was it obvious because of the colors or did you have to dig it out?
Blended in quite well, saw movement on my acantho (its night, he was out) and he was on the mantle, did blend in as my acantho has a white-black-green polyp, after about 5 minutes I was able to suck him up with a coral feeder
 

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I've heard my fair share of horror stories with these guys, just never dealt with them, do you think there's more or are they solitairy?
Likely a lone hitchhiker and I dont trust them myself
 

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@ISpeakForTheSeas is it a gall crab? Any species ID? Never dealt with these and can't quite seem to find a match with this one
I'm not sure honestly, but crab ID is tough for me. The head and claws look like a gall crab's, but the body shape looks off to me, and I'm not familiar with a species of crab with that specific color pattern on the shell (there are a surprisingly large number of white crabs with brown stripes similar to this; I know like a dozen, but none of them match this one).

If it was on your acantho, that may be an indication of it being a gall crab or pest crab of some variety, or it may be an indication that your acantho is unhealthy enough to invite predation.

Either way, it looks like it could be a cool sump specimen.
 
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I'm not sure honestly, but crab ID is tough for me. The head and claws look like a gall crab's, but the body shape looks off to me, and I'm not familiar with a species of crab with that specific color pattern on the shell (there are a surprisingly large number of white crabs with brown stripes similar to this; I know like a dozen, but none of them match this one).

If it was on your acantho, that may be an indication of it being a gall crab or pest crab of some variety, or it may be an indication that your acantho is unhealthy enough to invite predation.

Either way, it looks like it could be a cool sump specimen.
I did find this taxonomy chart of gall crabs (unfortunately I would have to purchase the article to read it) though it closely resembles #7
Screenshot_20231114_090316_Samsung Internet.jpg

20231113_215528.jpg

Any ideas? Thanks!
 

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Yeah, 7 there is Fizesereneia sp. - the genus is one of about three gall crab genera that I know that could potentially host this crab, but I'm not confident on any of them (and it's hard to find pics of the species in the genus to compare with).
 
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Yeah, 7 there is Fizesereneia sp. - the genus is one of about three gall crab genera that I know that could potentially host this crab, but I'm not confident on any of them (and it's hard to find pics of the species in the genus to compare with).
Screenshot_20231114_092358_Samsung Internet.jpg

C

Anyway are they parasitic like most gall crabs? Was removal the right thing to do?
 
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Also found this site
And is Fizesereneia sp species a possibiliy?
 
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Anyway are they parasitic like most gall crabs? Was removal the right thing to do?
Yeah, Fizesereneia spp. are considered parasitic to corals from the families Mussidae and Lobophylliidae.
And is that species a possibiliy?
A Lithoscaptus sp. is a possibility, but the above isn't quite right either (the closest Lithoscaptus species I know at the moment is L. semperi, and it's off too). Similarly, a Xynomaia sp. is a possibility, but I haven't found one that fits.
 
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Yeah, Fizesereneia spp. are considered parasitic to corals from the families Mussidae and Lobophylliidae.

A Lithoscaptus sp. is a possibility, but the above isn't quite right either (the closest Lithoscaptus species I know at the moment is L. semperi, and it's off too). Similarly, a Xynomaia sp. is a possibility, but I haven't found one that fits.
Also, not right on color but neotroglocarcinus hongkimgensis, the Hong Kong gall crab has a similar body shape, anything in that family a possibility?
 

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Only two species are currently accepted in the Neotroglocarcinus genus, and it's not either of them. Again, there's a good chance that the crab is a gall crab (i.e. from the taxonomic family Cryptochiridae), but I'm not familiar with the species at the moment if it is.
 
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Only two species are currently accepted in the Neotroglocarcinus genus, and it's not either of them. Again, there's a good chance that the crab is a gall crab (i.e. from the taxonomic family Cryptochiridae), but I'm not familiar with the species at the moment if it is.
Of course. Is it likely that this one was solitary or could there be more? I'll see if i can find a match
 

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Of course. Is it likely that this one was solitary or could there be more? I'll see if i can find a match
I would assume it's solitary, but there may be another; they only host on specific corals, so checking your LPS would be a good idea if you're worried you have more.
 
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I would assume it's solitary, but there may be another; they only host on specific corals, so checking your LPS would be a good idea if you're worried you have more.
Thankfully I usually keep encrusting LPS, the only "meaty" LPS I keep are my wilsoni and A. pachysepta
 

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