Ok guys and gals,
Here is the story........
I have put in over the last 4 months, about 25
scarlet hermits and 10
blue legged hermits.
I have been wondering as I am sure many of you are or have in the past. Are my crabs killing each other? When I find a little crab body in the bottom of the reef, I always wonder, is it a molt or a dead body. I never have been able to see any fighting. So I always wonder if something is killing them or not. I also did not find any empty shells. I figured it was just molting and did not worry about it. I also thought that maybe I had an errant rock crab or something that hitchhiked his way in. I never did find anything. I also added lots of spare larger shells for everyone to move around into if they wanted.
Also every now and then I would find two shells stuck together at the opening. Did not know if one was trying to move shells, or attack the other one, kill it and steal the shell. When I see this activity they usually stay stuck for two or three days. Then just back to normal. Everyone in their shell.
So last night I caught one of the larger ones trying to dig his way into a larger shell that was already occupied by a smaller crab. He (or she) ( or it ) was not apparently trying to attack the crab itself. Just digging at the opening, scaring the other one. I watched for about 15 minutes and finally moved the larger one about 2 feet away and grabbed the coffee.....the large attack crab started moving very quickly back toward the same crab. Then he just walked right past him !!!
Then the funny part. He went up a rock, circled around the mushrooms and came back down and went after a different one near the original one he had been attacking earlier.
Now it gets to the good part. I know you are all on the edge of your seat. The original crab that had been attacked by my killer crab jumped in the middle of the new attack !!!! It seemed as if he was fighting for the other one, or maybe the two would gang up on the larger killer crab.
Well to make a long story shorter. I left them to their antics for a while, and when I came back, the large crab had both of them held down and was apparently starting dinner. I saw a leg come out of the melee and land on the substrate. At this point I figured I would seperate all three and see exactly what was happening. I pulled the large killer crab out and threw him in the sump. The smallest of the two others was not damaged that I could see but he scurried away quickly. The original attackee was missing two legs, and one eyestalk. I know the legs will regenerate, but not sure about the eyestalks.
All of these players in the turf war were the scarlet hermits. So at least now I know the answer to my question. And it is yes !!!! They are killing each other.
I only wish I knew why
If anyone might have some suggestions or questions about my long and rambling story, feel free to ask.......
