Urgent help needed Acropora unidentified tiny crab!
- Thread starter Severo78
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Have you noticed your Acros not doing too well lately by any chance?
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Those marvellous little crabs eat the polyps off your Acros which causes them to die off eventually.
Not too sure due to poor picture but suspect its a pocci. I have a few living amongst my acro and have never had a prob. Hope this helps.The Trapezia Pocillopora/Acropora Crab, or Acro Crab for short, is a small commensal crustacean which lives its whole life within the branches of Pocillopora corals and Acropora Corals if no Pocilloporid corals are available, aiding in the proper water flow between the branches to keep these areas clean. In a symbiotic relationship with its host coral, the Trapezia Pocillopora/Acropora Crab is thought to feed on particulates trapped by the coral polyps, fallen detritus, and the coral's secreted mucus. In turn, the crabs guard the coral from invaders and fend off predators.
The importance of the Trapezia Pocillopora/Acropora Crab's role within a larger reef ecosystem is just now being recognized. Previously considered by hobbyists to be a coral "pest," the Trapezia Pocillopora/Acropora Crab may actually improve your success with SPS husbandry. Since the crabs constantly clean and defend their hosts, corals hosting Trapezia sp. have higher survival rates and stronger growth.
In the home aquarium, they may eat excess meaty food particles that lands on the coral, but won't need to be provided a staple diet. As an obligatory commensal coral crab, though, they will require a host SPS coral for survival.
The importance of the Trapezia Pocillopora/Acropora Crab's role within a larger reef ecosystem is just now being recognized. Previously considered by hobbyists to be a coral "pest," the Trapezia Pocillopora/Acropora Crab may actually improve your success with SPS husbandry. Since the crabs constantly clean and defend their hosts, corals hosting Trapezia sp. have higher survival rates and stronger growth.
In the home aquarium, they may eat excess meaty food particles that lands on the coral, but won't need to be provided a staple diet. As an obligatory commensal coral crab, though, they will require a host SPS coral for survival.
Yea thats not a acro crab and he should be the reason why that sps of yours is dead.
Get rid of that little bugger
Get rid of that little bugger
IMO That crab wont do that to that acro. There are other issues to cause the acro to die.
Definitely not a Trapezia Pocillopora.
Acropora predator... Scientific name alludes me.. Google teddy bear crab
Agreed with Nemos Janitor, other issues at play. I have a fee living on my table acro, they do a bit of damage but the coral growth rate outgrows their damage.
Have a look at you parameters, stability of parameters and nutrient levels, as this is more likely the cause of its demise.
Acropora predator... Scientific name alludes me.. Google teddy bear crab
Agreed with Nemos Janitor, other issues at play. I have a fee living on my table acro, they do a bit of damage but the coral growth rate outgrows their damage.
Have a look at you parameters, stability of parameters and nutrient levels, as this is more likely the cause of its demise.