New Critter from Hawaii

[samiam_orami]

Hey all ....

I've think I've stumbled onto the perfect scavenger and sand steerer ....

Paciific Mole Crab (hippa Pacifica) -

http://zenreef.com/images/molecrab1.jpg
http://zenreef.com/images/molecrab2.jpg

can grow up to 1 1/2 inches
a very hardy scavener crab that will adapt to your tank. Slowly changing color to match your sand bed. ....

If anybody has any additional info on these guys, let me know ....

I'm going to make them available for $6 ea

aloha ....
life is good ....
samiam

[blueboy]

that thing is wicked. do you know about it's "reefsafeness"?

[don-n-sa]

Man...those things bring back memories...I used to catch them in Florida as a kid oh and in South Carolina too. The only thing I remember about them is that we called them "sand fleas" and they made excellent bait for surf fishing. They were easy to catch, just wait for an outgoing wave and dig through the sand. They were always on the area of sand where the waves were coming in. As for how or what they would do in an aquarium I have no idea Sam.

[Instar]

Commonly referred to as sand crabs. Someone was selling them online for 5 for 8 dollars or something like that. They are tidal and live on the beach in the waves and although can be considered reef safe, stirrers and scavengers don't have long lives in a tank. Anyone who goes to Corpus can catch them after a wave on the beach. Perhaps yours are used to warmer water all year around and will live longer than a few months? They are extremely plentiful on the beach.

[samiam_orami]

They call them Sand Turtles over here ....

never seen them before,
its really cool to catch and find something you never seen before.

On the short term, they seem really harder.
I had one in a tank that the inwhich the power went out.
everything in the tank died except the sand turtle

[toulene]

we had them in NC too, as a kid we'd play in the surf and you could feel as the waves went out their legs? filtering. We called em sand fleas too don. Haven;t seen them in Corpus but its always been winter when I was there.

[Sherri]

I was raised near Corpus Christi...and I personally haven't seen these before. Interesting.

[FireEater]

I'm down here in Texas City, so I will check to see if they are in the surf in Galveston when it warms up.

If I find some, I will add them to the 29g refugium first and watch them closely.

Mark

[donniekim]

I've seen em in the sand in galveston too,,,,,,,we called em sand fleas too!

Hey Mark!

Donnie

[TroyPham]

u can get them all day long on the beach in corpus. shoot if they sell for 6 bucks each. i'll get rich selling them. they do make good bait for surf fishing along with ghost shrimp. i have a handy little tool called a ghost shrimp pump and can pull about 50 to 60 up in 30 min.

[FireEater]

Hey Donnie!

TroyPham, That is what I thought about the Porcilain Crabs I catch here in Texas City. I can catch hundreds of them and at 6 to 8 bucks online I could get rich! HAHA!

Mark

[brewercm]

Good to see a marshian snoopin the board. I have a cousin that lives in Texas City, actually I think he just moved up to La Marque near where his father lives. Are there any good LFSs in that area, we will probably be coming down there soon to pick up some stuff from his father.

[TroyPham]

seems to be more and more marshians here lately... haha.. but i post over there too. the more the marrier

[donniekim]

Go to this site and you can find the best ones in the area!
http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=23

[TroyPham]

i visit global pets the most. john and sergio(sp) are cool guys. i'm gonna check out frag. farm this weekend when i'm there. tnt is ok. but there live stock is always low when i go buy.