Acropora Crab And Corals
The Acropora Crab or Coral Crab is a small spotted reddish crab that lives among the Acropora Coral and has a symbiotic relationship with it. The crabs use specialized feeding appendages on the tips of their legs to stimulate their host colony to produce excess lipid-rich mucus the primary source of nutrition for the crabs.
Purple Spot Acropora Crab Fish Pet Reef Tank Animals
In general species from Acropora may grow either as a plate slender or broad branching type of reef building corals.
Acropora crab and corals. Reef building corals of the families Pocilloporidae Acroporidae Poritidae and Faviidae were collected at low tide. The damaging crabs can also be found in wild Acropora colonies but the monoculture of farmed corals makes them more susceptible and youre likely to find these more on Acropora with many closely spaced corallites such as A. Over 149 species are described.
Crabs are opportunistic predators with the exception some of the symbiotic crabs like. However crabs are known to damage Acropora coral. They are found from Mauritius east to the Marshall Islands Coral Sea and the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs in the east and Australias Great Barrier Reef as well as the Houtman Abrolhos Islands on Australias west coast.
About a week and a half ago I bought an Acropora crab and a birds nest coral. Acropora species are some of the major reef corals responsible for building the immense calcium carbonate substructure that supports the thin living skin of a reef. Having said that Acropora are one of the most difficult corals to keep.
These corals are characterized by a branchedtabular morphology that often serves as a habitat and refuge for other vertebrate and invertebrate species thus promoting the reefs ecological diversity. In aquariums they generally serve as a curiosity because predators are not a concern. With approximately 180 species Veron 2000 Acropora is one of the most common Scleractinian genera to inhabit tropical coral reefs.
The coral protects the crabs from predators while the crabs clear their colony of excess debris and sediment that might impact the corals zooanthellia. 5999 3999 Add to cart. This creates a wonderful natural habitat for them.
Ive kept such crabs in an isolation tank with an Acropora colony and observed that they do indeed crush polyps and eat them but they do so at a rate that the coral can recover from and leaves no long term or noticable damage. There are two genera of coral guard crabs commonly found in the aquarium trade Trapezia and Tetralia that are symbiotic with small polyp stony corals such as Acropora Pocillopora Stylophora and Seriatopora corals. The Acropora Crab will feed on trapped food and waste of the coral in return the crab will guard the coral from invaders.
In other words they are not a coral crab in the manner in which. That is a cymo sp. Acropora crabs live among the branches of stony corals where they protect the coral from invertebrates and the coral protects the crab from fish.
These coral crabs will often prefer one species of coral and will be found living uniquely among that species. We got some nice colonies of acros in and I found two crabs. Found this video of an acropora crab Trapezia sp defending its host coral from attack from the Crown of thorns Starfish.
A total of 73 species of molluscs were associated with corals in Pall Bay. CM07ss December 2021 New ORA Categories. Acropora corals are one of the primary reef builders in worlds oceans and they are highly sought after by reef tank hobbyists for their remarkable growth rates and intense colors.
Some of its species are known as table coral elkhorn coral and staghorn coral. They also do not defend the coral as the commensal species will do. They are fairly calm corals and live well with other SPS corals.
And i take care of our coral tanks. Acropora corals do well when living with a range of reef safe fish. There are several species of Trapezia crabs that we carry three are pictured above.
These corals attract and feed their tiny symbionts with special fatty mucous they produce just for the crabs. When undisturb their polyps will extend. We have a couple in our reef and have found them to be beneficial to our larger colonies.
I think in this situation the coral is definately advantaged by having the crab preset. The Acropora corals are peaceful but watch out for crabs. One I know is safethe other Im still researching.
Each branch has several colonies that is composed of several corallites. Acropora are the crown jewel of the SPS world. Acropora is a genus of small polyp stony coral in the phylum Cnidaria.
Many experienced aquarists do not believe any crab should be kept in a closed system with Acros. Yesterday and into the morning the birds nest coral looks a little pale I. ORA Miami Orchid Staghorn Acropora.
Due to trouble at the shipping hub I got the birds nest coral a day later then it should the crab arrived on time. The Antler Coral Acropora microphthalma has a potential of reaching 6 feet across and the video at 154 shows an Antler Coral with a symbiotic crab. The Trapezia PocilloporaAcropora Crab or Acro Crab for short is a small commensal crustacean which lives its whole life within the branches of Pocillopora corals and Acropora Corals if no Pocilloporid corals are available aiding in the proper water flow between the branches to keep these areas clean.
No other genus has the sheer number of species as Acropora and when reef aquarists talk about the requirements to keep an SPS system they are talking specifically about the care requirements of Acropora. The Acropora Crab requires a reef environment for its sanctuary. Fragging acropora can be a fairly lucrative hobby if you have a good base to start with.
Where Acropora Corals Are Found. One of the good crabs found hiding in a Pocillopora coral Good coral crabs can be found in Acropora Pocillopora Stylophora and Seriatopora Birdnest corals. I actually just set up an sps tank but its.
They are common in shallow reefs with good. All Acropora have similar needs as far as strong light a surge like strong water flow and need to be kept out of reach of aggressive corals. So I brought the two home.
So I work at an lfs. QCC Purple Tip Acropora. However they are known to sting other corals that are around them.
They are commensal coral crabs and will do best with larger coral colonies as they do eat a few polyps here and there. But they want all potential threats removed. The Acropora tenuis are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Red Sea.
But it will retract and hide inside the pores as a response to water movement or threat by nearby predators.
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