New crustacean babies.

[Rob in Puyallup]

Blue legged hermit crabs, Harry.

[Harry]

They eat algae and detritus, so they may be the perfect companions for your Opae. But it looks like you will need to find a bunch of different sized shells. I understand they will kill snails to get their shells, so you may want to put in a generous store of Mustafa's snails.

[Rob in Puyallup]

I have gobs of MTSs. They're good in brackish and breed like crazy!

[Harry]

MTS are perfect. I have gobs of them as well. You buy one and then you get gobs. Same with Mustafa's GT snails. My assassin snails will eat the MTS if they run out of pond snails. Then they leave the empty shells behind. My LFS sells hermit crab shells, but they are much too large for the little ones. I'm wondering at what stage in their growth do they need to hijack shells?

[Rob in Puyallup]

Found this in the container with the crablets. An anemone of some sort, was "crawling" up the side of the rock, is now on top.

Hope it's not a crablet predator...

[KenCotigirl]

Rob you certainly bring home interesting creatures. Sea slug?

[Rob in Puyallup]

LOL! I have been since I was a kid, Ken. Any little critter I could find under a rock, in the grass, or under a log went home and lived in a jar.

Until Mom found out.

I'm thinking this is a small "bubble" anemone. See the "mouth" in the center, on top? Many of anenomes are photosynthetic, (they have algae in their tissues and the two live "symbiotically" one giving the other a home while the other providing it's host nutrients), and rarely eat. I'm hoping this is one of those.

[Mustafa]

Yep, those appear to be hermit crab larvae. Here is a video of land hermit crab larvae (which should be similar enough):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOHuA5tUiJw

They look very similar to shrimp larvae, too. Before you go out there and think about shells they might be living in, keep in mind that these larvae will need to be fed and grow for a certain amount of time before settling to a benthic lifestyle. That won't happen in that small container. You need a larger, dedicated larval rearing tank, kinda like the one Ken/Cotigirl is using to rear M. lohena larvae (he has a thread for that in the main shrimp forum).

That's great, though! It's always exciting to discover something new.

[Rob in Puyallup]

Thanks, Mustafa,

I'm trying not to count crabs before the larvae settle, at least.

They're very tiny and I have no idea what to feed them.

Per Internet accounts I gather it's not completely unusual for hermits to hatch eggs, though raising the zoea is virtually unheard of...

My fingers are crossed, though!

[Rob in Puyallup]

Not finding many crablets this morning.

Hoping they're hiding in the algae, but thinking it's probably not that good a news...

[Harry]

I was looking at some images of the blue legged hermit and they have the most beautiful colors. But judging by their size, and the size of their shells they hijack, I think they need a large tank. I would really like some companion fish and plants for my Opae, but for now it looks like snails and the macro-algae.

[Rob in Puyallup]

The blue legged aren't much bigger than the opae ula, and an adult sized MTS shell is about the size of shell my largest ones occupy.

Not finding any crablets this afternoon. Thinking of setting up a small tank for the parents and their live rock this weekend.

[KenCotigirl]

Harry fish and shrimp do not mix. Fresh, brackish or full salt not a good combo. Eventually the shrimp lose. Whether direct adult loss or failed breeding.

[Harry]

Cotigirl, I'm thinking you are correct, as these guys live by themselves in the wild.

[Rob in Puyallup]

A new home for the hermit parents and a couple new additions: