Is a mite ID possible? (Found in hermit crab tank)

[wodesorel]

I'm posting this for a friend of mine who found this mite in a recently discarded shell and is worried it could possibly be a hermit crab mite. There are no mite ID guides for hermit crabs as crab parasites aren't well studied, so we're all left scratching out heads when we find one.

Are there any ID guides out there for common mites found in vivariums the States? We're all hoping it's a stray from somewhere else rather than something that might be eating the crabs. Is there any way to tell by it's structure what type of diet it has?

 

[spydrhunter1]

I've heard of perlatus having large red mites. The cure seemed to be bathing is sea water and a deep cleaning of the tank.
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/pages/mites.html

 

[wodesorel]

That's what we're wondering - if they are exotic perlatus (Strawberry Hermit Crab) mites or if they are a common household or garden mite that got into the tank.

I should also mention that it's the size of a grain of sand. (She was boiling the empty shells and it poured out after.)

 

[spydrhunter1]

was the shell recented vacated by a crab?

 

[wodesorel]

Possibly. The crab had moved out of that shell 12 hours earlier, but since the shell was boiled together with others that had been in the tank and some brand new ones, it's hard to say where the mite came from for sure.