Red Sea boxer crab anemone
Alicia sp.
Also known as Alicia anemone, Boxer crab anemone
SaltwaterAnemone
Care at a glance
- Temperature
- 75–81°F
- 24–27°C
- pH
- 8.1–8.4
- Adult size
- 0.4 in
- 1 cm
- Minimum tank
- 11 gal
- 40 L
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Social behavior
- Solitary
- Swim level
- Bottom
- Difficulty
- Difficult
- Breeding
- No record
- Rarity
- Very rare
- Reef safe
- Reef safe with caution
- Family
- Aliciidae
- Origin
- Northern Red Sea, known only from the claws of the Red Sea boxer crab Lybia leptochelis
Overview
The Red Sea boxer crab anemone is a tiny anemone that lives only in the claws of the Red Sea boxer crab. It suits a nano reef, and keeping it with its crab is for experienced keepers.
Did you know
Boxer crabs in Eilat have been filmed stealing anemone fragments from each other. The anemones held by a group of crabs proved to be clones.
Caring for the Red Sea boxer crab anemone
The Red Sea boxer crab anemone needs no separate care, because in an aquarium it lives only as part of a boxer crab. Keep the crab well and the anemones come along. House the crab in a nano reef of at least 11 gal (40 L), with live rock.
Keep the water stable, at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) and a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. The anemone feeds on its zooxanthellae and on whatever food the crab lets it keep.
The crab waves its anemones at any fish or crab that comes too close. Keep no fish or shrimp that would pull the crab's gloves off.
The crabs propagate the anemones by tearing them in half. A crab that has lost one anemone tears the other in two, and both halves regrow.
Good to know
The Red Sea boxer crab anemone belongs to the genus Alicia in the family Aliciidae. It has not been described to species, so it is listed as Alicia sp. In the crab's claws it is kept to a few millimeters across, far below its relatives' size, because the crab takes most of its food. A crab sold as a pom-pom crab may carry this anemone or Triactis producta, depending on where it was collected.
In the wild
The Red Sea boxer crab anemone is known from the northern Red Sea. There the boxer crab Lybia leptochelis carries one in each claw over shallow rubble and reef. Nobody has found it living free, and every specimen studied came out of a crab's claws.
Symbiotic relationships
The boxer crab and its anemones
The boxer crab holds a tiny anemone in each claw and waves them at anything that comes close, the way a boxer holds up gloves. The anemones sting for the crab and mop up food particles, and the crab clips food from them to eat. Boxer crabs that lose one anemone have been filmed tearing the other in two, and both halves grow back into a whole anemone, so the crab is farming its weapons. The anemones seem to get nothing but a lifetime of being waved about.
A nano reef animal about an inch (2.5 cm) across that spends much of the day under rock. It is harmless to corals and fish and needs nothing special beyond stable water and no predators. The anemones arrive in its claws and need no care of their own; a crab sold as a pom-pom crab carries Triactis producta or, from the Red Sea, an Alicia. Do not confuse it with the freshwater pom pom crab in this catalog, which has fluffy claws and no anemones at all.
Common questions
What size tank does a Red Sea boxer crab anemone need?
A Red Sea boxer crab anemone needs at least 11 gal (40 L).
What temperature and pH does a Red Sea boxer crab anemone need?
A Red Sea boxer crab anemone is comfortable at 75–81°F (24–27°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.
What does a Red Sea boxer crab anemone eat?
A Red Sea boxer crab anemone feeds on its zooxanthellae. It also takes whatever food its crab lets it keep.
How big does a Red Sea boxer crab anemone get?
An adult Red Sea boxer crab anemone reaches about 0.4 in (1 cm).
How does a Red Sea boxer crab anemone breed?
A Red Sea boxer crab anemone multiplies when its crab tears it in half. Both halves regrow into new anemones.
