crab breeding?

[Bailey's Dad]

the other day i noticed a small new crab in a hole in some live rock,its less than a half inch in diameter and somewhat white or gray in color.what i am wondering is,could this crab be an offspring of my two emerald crabs that ive had since november of '03......if not any ideas on what kind it might be?.....

[Ninong]

It's probably a hitchhiker crab that you just didn't see before. It might be an offspring of your Mithrax sp. crabs but I doubt it. Mithrax crabs hold their eggs in a flap under their bodies and release them as plankton after a period of embryonic development. The chances of successful reproduction in an aquarium are remote because it is highly unlikely that the larvae would escape being eaten.