PomPom Crab

[crabman]

ok so i bought a pom pom crab a while back from voodoomach, which was a great buy! then about a month or so ago we bought a bunch of LR and took everything out of our tank and redid all the rock work. after all of this we noticed that our pompom had lost both of his anemones. he is not shy at all and comes out often. he was a little desperate for a while and pulled off a piece of this green polyp below (which if anyone has any idea what this is please lmk i've got 5 now) and carried it around for about 2-3 days. well anyhoo, i heard that these crabs never grow these anemones back... but i'm not so sure anymore! today i noticed that he had one, and it was nearly identical to the anemones he carried when i first got him. i got a picture so if anyone has any idea how this happened please fill me in!

this is the green polyp he pulled a piece off of and tried to carry for a couple of days:



and here is a picture of him earlier today:

[Mr Cob]

No answers for you....but he is super sweet!

[erebus]

When I had one it would molt and drop the anemones then would find them later. Most likely he molted or lost them when you changed the rock work, then he found it again. They can't grow them back because all they do is pick them up, three creatures living together.

[SoLiD]

I bought a pom pom crab with one claw\anemone. 1 month later I spotted him in the corner wit 2 claws and 2 anemones. I guess these guys are smarter than they look.

[crabman]

When I had one it would molt and drop the anemones then would find them later. Most likely he molted or lost them when you changed the rock work, then he found it again. They can't grow them back because all they do is pick them up, three creatures living together.

thats what i thought about, but i'm positive he went back into the tank without the anemones! we had all the critters in a safe spot outsite the tank while we were working, and he went back in empty handed. and even if he did drop them, our sand has been turned over so much it would have never been seen again!

I bought a pom pom crab with one claw\anemone. 1 month later I spotted him in the corner wit 2 claws and 2 anemones. I guess these guys are smarter than they look.

i def agree! he looked really cool with a bright green little polyp in his hands for a while, i guess it just withered away though. then out of nowhere, he's got another anemone!

[crabman]

No answers for you....but he is super sweet!

thanks! yeah i love the little guy, he isn't very shy which is cool because i hear they can be put in a tank and never seen again. i would say i see him every other day.

[lhoy]

I suspect the little anemones they use could just as easily split as the larger anemones we tend to keep? Just a thought.

Lee

[crabman]

I suspect the little anemones they use could just as easily split as the larger anemones we tend to keep? Just a thought.

Lee

i have read this on more than one occassion and it is very true. in the wild pompom crabs with two anemones have been known to set down one until a boxer crab without any picks it up, and then they each grow it and split into two. i just have know idea how he was able to pull one out of his pocket almost out of nowhere!

[crossxfire2]

The animal world is so cool!!!

[Chris]

I've been wanting to pick one up so bad! I actually saw one at a LFS (can't remember where) about 2 months ago before my tank was ready... :(