Identify Small Crab

[bwilhite]

Happy New Year! I just pulled out a little dead crab from my tank and the weird thing is I have a trigger aggressive tank and have never ever seen anything other than pods in my tank that I didn't put in there so my big surprise to see that little crab. Sad that it was dead and all in one piece laying in the sand bottom. I was just curious if anyone could identify what kind of crab it was. Not sure if it is small and grown or would have grown bigger. Thanks

 

[Smitty]

Are you sure it's dead and not just a molt you pulled out? Looks like a xanthide crab maybe.

 

[bwilhite]

No, It;s not a molt, the body is there. Maybe I can get a better pic.

 

[bwilhite]

Well, on second thought, how can you tell if it is a molt? Do crabs molt their legs and their pinchers?

 

[bwilhite]

It does look like the
Pink dotted Xanthiden Crab.

 

[Sakura2282]

Well, on second thought, how can you tell if it is a molt? Do crabs molt their legs and their pinchers?

Yes they do. If you open it and don't see any organs inside except for the crab gills, then it's only a molt and not a dead crab. :)

 

[bwilhite]

Nothing inside, I guess I have a crab but I will probably never see it.