Id's elegance coral pest

[DarkFable9]

I recently got a small Aussie Elegance and it's been a letdown - it never really opened up like it should. I've been trying to get the lighting and flow just right, moving it around, but the other night I took a closer look and found these bright orange, crab-like legs tucked away in its soft tissue. They were definitely moving, and I figured that wasn't good for the coral. So, I decided to take it out and carefully remove the "crab" with tweezers - turns out its body shape is more like a tick, actually. My 9-year-old son, my little biologist, started researching "sea tick" and had a good laugh about it. Does anyone know what this thing is? Hopefully, I didn't do too much damage to the coral's tissue when I was removing it, and it'll recover.

https://scontent-b-mia.xx.fbcdn.net...=52e6e65d14f56d3a941cb3aad43d3042&oe=54E2A660

[felinxo]

No way, that's seriously creepy. I'm sorry, I've got no info on that one. The face on its back is just plain unsettling.

[DarkFable9]

That face on its back is freaky, I didn't catch that till you mentioned it, now it's all I see.

[felinxo]

No, no, no, no, and no. That's just plain creepy. I've got no info on this one, sorry. And honestly, the face on its back? Not a fan.

[zenoxa]

I'm thinking it might be a sea spider, actually. Those Pycnogonids are pretty interesting, I found some info on them. Check out this link - it's got some good stuff on hitchhikers like this guy. http://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhiker/hitchhiker.shtml

[felinxo]

I'm pretty sure I know what you're dealing with - a coral gall crab. I did a quick image search on Google and found tons of pics of these little guys attached to elegance corals.

[falcone9]

No way, that's seriously creepy. I'm sorry, I've got no info on that one. The face on its back is just plain unsettling.

I've had a similar experience with gall crabs in my Aussie Elegance - they can be quite damaging. Mine made a hole roughly the size of a pencil eraser in the skeleton.

[DarkFable9]

No way, that's seriously creepy. I'm sorry, I've got no info on that one. The face on its back is just plain unsettling.

I'm pretty sure you nailed it. I did some digging at lunch and that's exactly what it looks like. Glad I was able to get it out, hopefully the Aussie Elegance will bounce back now.