A few weeks ago in the morning, I could not believe my eyes: My sea urchin with 5cm size was stuck in a crevasse of the reef and was completely empty. The house around the mouth was broken out. It couldn’t have reached the the position alone, in which I found him.
After a long search I found a giant crab of about 6-7cm length near the sea urchin.
Due to lack of time I let the empty urchin in the tank – the next morning, it wasnothing left. The largest piece, which I found (no joke) was 5 mm in size.
So I made a plan, how to catch the crab. At first I tried it with a homemade crab trap. I cut off the neck of a PET bottle, put it upside down into, widened the hole a bit and put in some mussels.
Of course, the shrimps were the first on the scene and pulled out the mussels. Then I attached the flesh with super glue on the bottle bottom.
Well – the crab did not move into the trap, but was attracted by the flesh so that I (after a short chase) could grab her with a large pair of tweezers from behind. Now it lives in my sump.
Xanthias punctatus came over my live rock and has grown magnificently.
If anyone is interested in this crab and can offer her a good home, I look forward to your comments below this article.
0 comments on “Catching the crab – Xanthias punctatus”