Anemone Porcelain Crab

The porcelain crab is recognized by its flat cream-white body and the maroon spots covering its claws. It is not a true crab; it belongs to a group closer to hermit crabs and carries a very small fifth pair of legs behind its fourth pair. In the wild it lives among large anemones, usually in pairs, and filters plankton from the water by rhythmically opening and closing the feathery fans on its mouthparts. When stressed or handled it can drop its claws; the claws regenerate over the following molts.

• A mature reef of 100 liters or more; ideally a large anemone. In the wild it mostly lives in carpet anemones; in the aquarium it may also accept a bubble tip anemone. Without an anemone it also lives in rock caves but is shyer.
• Salinity specific gravity 1.023–1.026, pH 8.1–8.4, temperature 24–27°C.
• Reef safe; it does not touch corals or other animals.
• It should be acclimated by the drip method for at least 1 hour; copper-based medications are lethal.

A filter feeder; it feeds on small suspended particles such as phytoplankton, rotifers, copepods and finely ground foods. A few times a week the pumps should be turned down briefly and fine plankton food offered near it.

Peaceful. Usually only one pair lives in an anemone; it chases away strangers. It may share its anemone with clownfish, but some clownfish may harass it.

Good companions: bubble tip anemone, clownfish, gobies, cardinalfish; sexy shrimp, snails.

Avoid: hawkfish, large wrasses, triggerfish; boxer shrimp and large crabs such as the emerald crab.