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The Dreaded Gall Crab!!!!!

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  • The Dreaded Gall Crab!!!!!

    I bought a Brain Maze coral with a hole in it not to long ago. I did wonder why the hole but never thought it was home to a hitchhiker. The other night i noticed the coral sliming. Wondering why all the fuss, i took a closer look and saw a tick size crab gathering the mucus from the coral. I immediately took the coral out and was able to get the crab. After taking photos and posting on other sites and doing more research i found it to be a gull crab. The gull crab is a crab that will burrow in lps and use the coral for protection and home. Heres a link to some of the forums i read and some pics i took, so everyone can be more aware about this lil booger. http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/...gall-crab.html
    img5753web.jpgimg5753web2.jpg
    75gal reef aka the $$$$ pit.

  • #2
    Ewwwww. Thanks for sharing this info, and I'm glad you caught it before it did too much damage.
    Our Fishhouse
    Sleep: A completely inadequate substitute for caffeine.

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    • #3
      Oh...and if you elaborate on what you did to remove it, and the stuff you learned through your research, I can promote this to an article. If you want to, that is.
      Our Fishhouse
      Sleep: A completely inadequate substitute for caffeine.

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      • #4
        Its ok to make it an article. I love all the different Forums. Its awesome that fellow fish and reef keepers help and educate each others through there experiences (thats why i posted the story). If there wasn't internet all of us in the hobby would just have a goldfish in a bowl.
        75gal reef aka the $$$$ pit.

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        • #5
          The hole that is made by this crab is about as 10mm wide and about the same depth. To get him out you would need tweezers. Lucky me mine was just outside the hole and i was able to flip the coral over and knock the crab off with a toothpick. You can see in the photo the size of the crab and the tooth pic. Just make sure when your going after anything small in the tank, you may want to remove the rock or coral its on to a bolw of tank water. I take this precaution just so i dont loose whatever im after in the tank, and you dont have to deal with the powerheads blowing it away. Also its always best to use plastic toothpics, but i was out of them. Doing reserch about the gall crab i found out that they will burrythimselfs in all sorts of lps, including open brains and will even hide in tube worm tubes. Normally Its the female gal crab that will burrow in a coral to protect itself and eggs.
          75gal reef aka the $$$$ pit.

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          • #6
            Thanks for the info
            Resident fish bum
            330G FOWLR
            34G Reef
            330G Discus biotopish (no longer running)
            28G JBJ Reef (no longer running)
            Treasurer, GHAC

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            • #7
              crazy!! never heard of a gall crab before. thanks for the heads up and the link tang.
              25g - Reef
              3.5g - Surge Tank
              10g - Ichthyophthirius multifilis breeding colony

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              • #8
                No problem. I never heard of them until I found one.
                75gal reef aka the $$$$ pit.

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