GothFishKeeper

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I recently added a porcelain crab to my nano, and I read that some species host in nems and some don’t. Can anyone ID him and tell me if he’s one that would prefer a nem in the future? I’m worried that if he is an anemone crab then he and my clowns will fight over it. I also know he’s a filter feeder so can anyone tell me what would be best to dose the tank with to feed him?
IMG_8380.jpeg
 

Alexraptor

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Banded Porcelain crab, Petrolisthes galathinus. Not an anemone crab, likes to live in crevices. :)

Like anemone crabs, they feed on plankton and particulates in the water column. I don't have one of these, but i do have a porcelain anemone crab and I dose Ocean Nutrition Reef Pulse on a regular basis, that it seems to love.
 
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GothFishKeeper

GothFishKeeper

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Banded Porcelain crab, Petrolisthes galathinus. Not an anemone crab, likes to live in crevices. :)

Like anemone crabs, they feed on plankton and particulates in the water column. I don't have one of these, but i do have a porcelain anemone crab and I dose Ocean Nutrition Reef Pulse on a regular basis, that it seems to love.
Thank you so much! Honestly I’m relieved he’s not an anemone crab because I don’t want my clowns killing him. I’ll check out that food though, thanks!
 

ISpeakForTheSeas

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Banded Porcelain crab, Petrolisthes galathinus. Not an anemone crab, likes to live in crevices. :)

Like anemone crabs, they feed on plankton and particulates in the water column. I don't have one of these, but i do have a porcelain anemone crab and I dose Ocean Nutrition Reef Pulse on a regular basis, that it seems to love.
Very close - this crab is in the Petrolisthes galathinus complex (all the crabs in the complex can be quite difficult to tell apart), but in this case it's the Purple Zebra Porcelain Crab, Petrolisthes bolivarensis; you can tell for a number of reasons visible in the pic, but the most prominent in this case are the orange spot on the claws and the color pattern visible on the legs (the striping on the body helps too, but it's much less obvious).

Either way, they like to live under rocks, dead corals, etc. - so very similar to P. galathinus.

For some info on how to tell these apart, info on their ecology, info on several other species in the complex, etc. see the links below:
 
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