ProfessorCrabwrist
- #1
I found a large crab in my closet today.

I honestly have no idea how it got there, not only because I don't have a saltwater tank, but I also don't keep any crabs in it.
I have a 100 gal setup with a large turtle living in it, and other large tropical fish too big for the turtle to bother. Other than an occasional feeder guppy or ghost shrimp, I don't keep a lot of smaller fish or invertebrates in there, since the turtle or others would eat them.
So this crab turning up outside of the tank and in my closet down the hall was a bit of a shock. I haven't had crabs since I owned a saltwater tank over ten years ago.
I have a working theory that this might be a freshwater crab that came into the tank as a larva on some live plants, then it survived to adulthood in some hidden part of the tank and then made its escape up a bamboo plant, where it made its way down the hall to the closet.
Has anyone else had a similar experience with crabs suddenly apparing where no crabs have gone before? Could a freshwater crab sneak into a tank and survive that long with large predators? Is this even a freshwater species? I'm at a bit of a loss why it is here.

I honestly have no idea how it got there, not only because I don't have a saltwater tank, but I also don't keep any crabs in it.
I have a 100 gal setup with a large turtle living in it, and other large tropical fish too big for the turtle to bother. Other than an occasional feeder guppy or ghost shrimp, I don't keep a lot of smaller fish or invertebrates in there, since the turtle or others would eat them.
So this crab turning up outside of the tank and in my closet down the hall was a bit of a shock. I haven't had crabs since I owned a saltwater tank over ten years ago.
I have a working theory that this might be a freshwater crab that came into the tank as a larva on some live plants, then it survived to adulthood in some hidden part of the tank and then made its escape up a bamboo plant, where it made its way down the hall to the closet.
Has anyone else had a similar experience with crabs suddenly apparing where no crabs have gone before? Could a freshwater crab sneak into a tank and survive that long with large predators? Is this even a freshwater species? I'm at a bit of a loss why it is here.