# Gorilla Crab



## MaconTallMan

I have added live rock and today I found what I am pretty sure is a Gorilla Crab. How bad is this animal to have in my tank? He is currently living under a bubble tip anemone and is quite small (Dime size or smaller from leg tip to leg tip.) I am building a fish only with live rock tank. I have only found bad things about them on the web. Any advice would be appreciated.


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## Fishfirst

1st make sure he isn't a porceline crab (associated with anemones and can hitch hike) Did you purchase the anemone or was it a hitchhiker? did you get metal halide or vho lighting? Most anemones do not do well under low light.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=629
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1963
gorillas usually look hairy.


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## MaconTallMan

The Anemone is a bubble tip and it was on a piece of live rock. Fully open he is about an inch and a half across. The crab looks spikey or maybe hairy. IT was hard to see him because he was between the anemone and the rock with just the claws picking something off of the rock and putting it in his mouth. he also looked brown with black claws (White tipped) I can't get a picture of him and when I tried to better identify him, he shot into a hole in the rock.


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## MaconTallMan

Oh yea, I also just went out and got one of the lights that are high in the blue spectrum. Not sure if that is enough for the Anemone. I didn't buy him but would like to try to take care of him.


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## leveldrummer

i know nothing about anyof this, but i thought id say that i just read that the gorilla crabs have black tipped claws, while the porcelains dont, not sure if im right maybe someone can comment on that. but i read that just now so i feel like a pro


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## Fishfirst

sounds like its not an anemone crab... dang, when you said it was living underneith the anemone I had hoped it wasn't... get rid of it, you can pull that piece of liverock out and squirt hot freshwater into his hole. Unfortuantely blue spectrum lighting will not help an anemone survive, the number of watts over it may though... throw it on top of your liverock pile as close to the light as you can get it.


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## MaconTallMan

Thanks for the info. I just gave him his eviction notice! He will be removed by force tomorrow.


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## MaconTallMan

Well, he's gone. He ran but could not hide.


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## Alina

I definitely have a gorilla in my main tank. The thing is, the guy has been there for at least two years and nobody has suffered. I was actually only aware that I had a crab becuase I found a shed shell when I moved the aquarium. I guess i now had his favorite rock oriented to the front of the aquarium, so I was quite shocked to see 4 fat legs sticking out of the hole. He crept out at night and I saw a crab that was at least 2 inches across. He moved very slowly, until I startled him. He fled so fast I didn't see which way he went.

After reading these threads, I thought about trapping him and putting him in the sump, even though this particular individual has been completely peaceful. I put a trap in front of his hole, stuck some fish food in it, and waited.. Slowly he came out of his hole and crept towards the trap. Problem is, so did everyone else in the tank. Everything from shrimps to fish ran over to the trap, and the crowning achievement was when the conch and sexy shrimp ran over the crab's head to get to the trap. They freaked him out so badly that he ran back into his hole and won't come out. Hardly seems like a deadly preditor.. Maybe I have the exception, but I have the deadly preditor who is afraid of his own shadow.. Surprised it didn't starve to death. I feel quite sorry for it at this point.


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