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FAQs about Hermit, Anomuran Crab Identification 3
Related Articles:
Hermit Crabs,
Crabs, Marine Scavengers, Fresh
to Brackish Crabs, Related FAQs:
Hermit ID 1, Hermit IDs 2,
Hermit IDs 4, &
Hermit Crabs 1, Hermit Crabs 2,
Hermit Crabs 3, Hermit Behavior,
Hermit Compatibility, Hermit
Selection, Hermit Systems,
Hermit Feeding, Hermit
Reproduction, Hermit Disease/Health,
Land Hermit Crabs, Squat Lobsters, Micro-Crustaceans,
Amphipods, Copepods,
Mysids,
Hermit Crabs,
Shrimps,
Cleaner Shrimps,
Banded Coral Shrimp,
Mantis Shrimp,
Anemone Eating Shrimp, Marine
Scavengers, Crustacean
Identification, Crustacean Selection,
Crustacean Behavior, Crustacean
Compatibility, Crustacean Systems,
Crustacean Feeding, Crustacean
Disease, Crustacean Reproduction, | 
Ever feel that the weight of the world is upon your shoulders? Me
too.
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Marine hermit crab ID 9/2/08
Hello!
<Hi there>
With the help of all this wonder information you have here, I have set
up and cycled my 14 gallon BioCube, and this weekend (after it cycled
and the levels were right) I added some hermits. The problem is, I've
run into a wall trying to ID a couple of them. The resources here led me
to ID the majority of the crabs (p. cadenati, c. tricolor, s. seurati,
and c. vittatus). But searching here and elsewhere on the net hasn't
yielded results for a few of my guys. I want to know the species to know
how to research them and possibly get some idea of how the may act and
how large they might grow.
I think that perhaps Mercury could be a c.
snelliusu? the coloring is similar but not exact. He is beautiful (and
my favorite):
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/lili_acb/DSCN3778.jpg
<Perhaps this Clibanarius...>
Megara looks exactly like my c.
vittatus except his stripes are brown/white, not black/white. Is this a
variety of c. vittatus or is he something different, such as c.
rhabdodactylus perhaps? Sorry the picture is not excellent, he is very
tiny:, solo in pic #1, the top in #2:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/lili_acb/DSCN3745.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/lili_acb/DSCN3728.jpg
<Maybe
C. zebra...>
Lastly I'm drawing a complete blank for my largest,
Osmium. Perhaps one of the Dardanus? I am especially interested by the
black/white stripped antennae and the red dots down the front of the
pinchers:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/lili_acb/DSCN3720.jpg
<Mmm, a
Diogenid of some sort... will likely consume all the others in time>
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this!
Caroline
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Strange Crustacean: Need More Information - 7/11/08
Hi. My
name's Brian,
<Hi Brian, Lynn here this afternoon.>
..and I
recently went to South Padre for the second time,
<What a great
place that is!>
..and once again I caught this strange
crustacean. I caught one on my first trip to SP and spent days
trying to identify it on the internet but never found anything, and
the same thing this time...I Googled "sand flea", "sea lice", South
Padre crustaceans", but could never find what I was looking for.
<Yep, that’s frustrating.>
It surely can't be a new species
because I saw several of them and I can't be the only one who's come
across one. But anyways, the crustacean looked somewhat similar to a
horseshoe crab. It was about 1 inch long with a thin tail that was a
couple of inches long. It was a pale white color, had several
overlapping segments to its carapace, and I couldn't find any eyes
on it. On the bottom it had, I believe six legs, and each leg was
like a small crab pincher. Please help me identify this creature...I
really really REALLY wanna know what it is!
<Me too! In all the
years I’ve been going to the Texas coast, I’ve never seen anything
quite like what you’ve described. I looked around, did some research
and finally asked a nice fellow from the Natural History Museum in
Los Angeles for some help. Unfortunately, he needed more
information. He said that what you saw could be anything from a dead
Mole crab with its thin abdomen extended out behind it, to a large
isopod of some sort. Here’s a link that shows a bit more regarding
Mole crabs (Emerita spp.):
http://www.diatribune.com/marine-life-series-mole-crabs . The
creature also sounds a bit like a Cumacean, but I’ve never heard of
one that large and besides, they have more than 6 legs. Here’s a
link with more information regarding Cumaceans:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumacea. Unfortunately, at this point,
I’d really need a good close-up photo in order to have any chance at
getting an ID for you.>
I wasn't able to get a very decent
picture, the one we got is blurry, and my step-dad isn't letting me
have it for some reason.
<Well Brian, the next time you go back
to Padre Island be sure to look around for more of the little
critters. You might want to see if your camera has a “Macro”
mode/setting, usually indicated by a small flower or daisy-like
icon. In macro mode, you should be able to get some good shots. At
that time, please do send them along. I’d love to solve this little
mystery! Take care, -Lynn> | 
Re: Strange Crustacean: Likely Mole Crab - 7/11/08
Hello
again.
<Hi Brian!>
So this time I've included a picture,
it's still blurry but it was the best one out of five, and in
conjunction with my description you can see a little better what
I was talking about.
<Yep, thanks for sending that along. It
makes all the difference.>
I looked up more pictures of both
of your suggestions, and I think the creature I caught was
likely some kind of mole crab
<I agree. It definitely looks
like a Mole or Sand crab of some sort – something in the
Superfamily Hippoidea, possibly in the Family Albuneidae.>
..(although it wasn't dead, because it was crawling around in my
hand), the only difference was that most of the pictures I found
of mole crabs didn't have the long thin tail I described (which
you can make out in my photo).
<Interestingly enough, I’ve
seen Mole crabs that look very similar. The only difference is
that what looks like a tail is actually a pair of antennae on
the head. Take a look at this photo:
http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/sertc/images/photo%20gallery/Albunea.jpg
.
At first glance, it looks like the narrower end on the
right *should* be the head, but it’s not. It fools the eye a
bit. Here’s another link with more information on Mole crabs in
this Family:
http://www.crustacea.net/crustace/anomura/www/albunei.htm.
They’re neat looking little critters, aren’t they!>
But for
now, I'm gonna assume that I caught a mole crab....but let me
know if you have any other opinions.
<I think we’ve got it!>
Thanks for the help.
<You’re very welcome and thanks again
for sending in the photo! Take care, -Lynn> |
Dardanus venosus in my tank!??! Maybe - 5/2/08
Dear
WetWebMedia crew,
Hello again.
<Hello Sherry>
I'm not sure
how this hermit got in my tank, but is it Dardanus venosus, the
Starry-eyed Hermit Crab, which grows 3-5 inches?
<I’m sorry, but
I can’t see the details well enough to make that determination. Did
it hitchhike in on rock from Florida, the Bahamas, or the
Caribbean?>
It has blue eyes,
<Do these have the distinctive
star patterned (pseudo-)pupils?>
..lavender claws and it is
bristly. Currently it is about 1" from claw to claw, or leg to leg,
however you measure. If it is a starry-eyed hermit, how long may I
expect it to stay small and relatively harmless?
<Growth rate
will depend on water parameters and how well it’s fed. How harmless
it is, depends on what you have/value within your system. It's also
related to the relative size, speed, and accessibility of its
potential prey items. If you have a tank loaded with very small fish
and snails it could already be of a threatening size. If, however,
it’s in a tank with very large fish, it wouldn’t be too much of an
issue. If it is indeed Dardanus venosus, it should only be in large,
fish-only systems.>
My son saw it pinch a Zoanthid polyp, but
besides that it is a good scavenger.
<I bet it is!>
Best
regards,
Sherry
<Take care, -Lynn> |  
Re: Dardanus venosus in my tank!??! Maybe - 5/2/08
Hello,
<Hi Sherry>
I just wrote to you about this crab, and then he
was nice enough to walk across the sand so I could take a couple
of more pictures. These are my three best pictures of him. It's
hard to get a good picture, but I think you can see the leg
colors, blue eyes, etc... Any idea what it is?
<Unfortunately, there are many possibilities. Without being able
to see more detail or know where it came from, I really couldn’t
tell you with any certainty. My best recommendation is to look
through the photos at the links below for comparison. I’d also
recommend that you keep a sharp eye on the little fellow if you
decide to keep it. The important thing about hermits is that
even those that are generally considered harmless have the
potential to prey on/pick at some of the favorable biodiversity
within a system, including snails. They’re also quite bold when
it comes to removing/robbing food from corals - sometimes to the
point of the coral's decline. Hermits are neat, but
opportunistic little creatures whose threat potential increases
with size, crowding, and lack of sufficient food. Keeping them
well fed can help deter predation to some degree, but the
potential risk is still there. Here are the links I mentioned
earlier:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/crabs/hermitcrabs.htm
This link is in French, but it has some excellent photos with
species names included.
http://www.recif.be/article/hermit.htm >
-Sherry
<Take
care, -Lynn> |
Elegant Hermit Crab, coral abrasion 4/19/08
Hello Guys,
<Scott>
I just bought a beautiful hermit crab which I believe to
be Aniculus elegans, the elegant hermit crab. This ID is based
solely on looking at photos on the web and noting that most, but not
all, of the sites identify him thusly. A few think he is a Hairy
Hermit Crab, Dardanus Sp., including my LFS where I bought it, That
Fish Place. The crab's colors match EXACTLY the pink and maroon
coralline algae on its shell, and the tips of his hairs are
turquoise. The crab is very beefy, i.e., all the outside legs are
thick and strong looking, which doesn't come through at all on any
photo I have seen. My questions:
1. Is he Aniculus elegans; or
can you point me to some web resource that will help me identify him
- that does not appear when you google "Aniculus elegans" OR ("A.
elegans" AND Aniculus)?
<I do think this ID is correct>
2. How
often should I give him some fish or chicken?
<No chicken... too
fatty, hard to digest...>
I am concerned that he is not getting
enough food (due to his exoskeleton, I cannot see if he is skinny).
He is rather lethargic compared to all my other hermit crabs (three
thin striped plus lots of reef janitors). He grabs and eats VERY
sloppily the fish and chicken I give him, but I would expect him to
be scouring my rocks looking for coral.
<I would offer this
animal aquatic-based proteinaceous food purposely 2-3 times a week.
Maybe via tongs...>
From the book, *Life and Death of Coral
Reefs* Edited by Charles Birkeland, chapter 4, *Bioerosion and
Coral-Reef Growth: A Dynamic Balance*, by Peter W. Glynn, Page 79:
Two species of hermit crabs that feed on live coral produce large
amounts of calcareous sediment when they scrape corals to remove
soft tissues (Fig. 4-1). The average mass of coral abraded by a
small hermit crab (*Trizopagurus magnificus* [Bouvier]) was about 10
mg ind.¯¹ day¯¹, and for a large hermit crab (*Aniculus elegans*
Stimpson) about 1 g ind.¯¹ day¯¹ (Glynn et al., 1972). Relating
hermit crab population densities and erosion rates, it was found
that *Trizopagurus* and *Aniculus* respectively were responsible for
the generation of about 1 and 0.1 metric tons of coral sediment per
hectare per year on a fringing reef in Panama (Table 4-2). Since
this rate of coral abrasion by hermit crabs has not been reported
elsewhere, it is possible that these high levels of erosion are
unique to the eastern Pacific.
<Wow!>
Grace and Peace,
Scott
<I would keep an eye on this (and all other hermits, true
crabs...) vis a vis your stony corals. Cheers, Bob Fenner> | 
|
Dardanus deformis, Hermit ID 3/30/08
Hello,
<<Hi Mike.>>
I
love your web site, its helped me a lot in the past.
<<Glad to hear
it.>>
I bought what I thought was three blue legged hermit crabs from
my LFS a couple days ago and I thought that one of the hermits had just
lost some color. Today I really checked the one out and he is definitely
not a blue leg. He has white legs with tan marks and white claws. I read
through the hermit ID page and I think there was one that may match him,
you called it a "Rock Hermit Crab". Will he bother my corals (Xenia,
Caulerpa, and some button polyps), inverts Feather Dusters, Flame
Scallop, multiple Brittlestars, Blue Tuxedo Urchin, Banded Coral Shrimp,
and a pink/green sea cucumber), or my fish (Fire Dartfish, Yellow Tang,
Ocellaris Clownfish, and a Starry Dragonet). Should I take him back to
the LFS? I also have a tank with a Yellow Banded Pipe Fish, a black
brittlestar, and a Sexy Anemone shrimp. There are no corals in this
tank. Would he be better suited for this tank?
<<Okay Mike after
seeing the photo, which I’ll say as a disclaimer is not the best way to
ID, I am in agreement that your specimen does resemble a Dardanus
deformis aka “Rock Hermit Crab.” As far as safety goes, you do have some
sensitive critters in there and Dardanus deformis does get to be on the
rather large size…as with all hermit keep that old phrase in
mind…opportunistic omnivore. Perhaps returning him before he gets to
large would be the wise choice. >>
Thank you for all your help!
<<Anytime.>>
-Mike A.
<<Adam J.>> | 
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Hermit Crab ID – Family: Paguridae - 2/26/08
Hello!
<Hi
Laurie!>
If you would be able to answer a question about a hermit
crab ID that would be great.
<I'll sure try!>
One of my coworkers
brought it to me after a mini-scuba diving trip this weekend.
<Mmmmm,
not such a good thing to do. These are better left in the wild. Not to
mention that it might very well be illegal!>
It is currently in a
fish only set up with 3 other pretty peaceful crabs of the same size
(2-3 inches). The only reason I am inquiring about this crab is because
of the color (red), and a past experience with a crab I bought from a
LFS that told me how "peaceful" the crab was. Only to find it trying to
catch fish mid-swim to eat it (successful once before he was returned).
<Yikes!>
That one I have come to figure the "scarlet hermit crab" as
it was sold to me as, was actually a "white spotted hermit crab".
<Double yikes! Dardanus megistos can grow to a very large size and is a
definite threat to fish. It's an attractive, but aggressive hermit.>
So getting back to my main question, would you be able to ID the crab in
the photo,
<Heeee! I wish I had a penny for every reddish/brownish
hermit out there! Complicating matters is that I don’t know where this
hermit is from, or if it was taken from the ocean, or the beach.
Location can make all the difference in identification. The shell it’s
in looks very much like Strombus pugilis or Strombus alatus, aka the
Fighting Conch from Florida/Gulf of Mexico, but I could be wrong. Please
see this link for comparison (note the degree of variation within the
species):
http://www.jaxshells.org/strombss.htm
Unfortunately,
there are just too many possibilities to give you an ID to species
level. The best I can do is tell you that since it appears that the
right claw is larger than the left, then it’s likely in the family
Paguridae.>
..and if so, the common temperament of this crab? In my
tank I have a Diamond Goby, pair of False Percula Clowns, and Chalk
Basslet whom I'd really like to keep alive in that tank and not worry
every night they might become dinner to this newcomer.
<Understandable. One thing I can tell you from personal experience is
that I don’t trust large hermits. They tend to be opportunistic
creatures with voracious appetites. Keeping them well fed could help
deter possible predation issues, but there are no guarantees. Please see
this link and those at the top of the page for more information and
photo comparison:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/crabs/hermitcrabs.htm
>
Thanks Again!
Laurie
<You're very welcome, and good luck!
Take care, -Lynn> | 
Hermit Crabs, ID... 02/01/2008
Hi!
<<Hello, Andrew today>>
I bought 3 hermit crabs from the LFS. I
think they might be the Coral Hermit Crab (D. tinctor). Blue eyes,
body is not bristly like the Starry
eyed, so I'm pretty sure its
not that. They are quite large, about 3-4 inches in shell length.
Anyways, my question is about the 4th one I got (The guy at the LFS
thought it was an empty shell and gave it to me.. much to my
surprise, it was gone from where I place it the night before and lo
and behold! It was a crab!)
<<A nice surprise>>
Went back to
the LFS, paid for it, and thought all was well. Well, all is well,
kind of. It looks like a C. vittatus hermit crab.
<<An attached
photo would of enabled us to confirm>>
The other 3 have been
happily climbing around everywhere, munching on algae, picking up
the crushed coral and doing what I can only describe as, scraping
off particulates. However, this C. vittatus is not moving around a
lot. It tends to like to burrow into the substrate next to my LR.
I'm afraid its not eating and it will starve. Any advice?
<<If it
is the C. vittatus, it should be fine. These act in much the same
manner as other algae eating crabs and as such, I would not be
concerned for its well fare. Keep a close eye on it.. Read more here
about half way down..
http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/arthropoda/crabs/hermitcrabs.htm
>>
Regards, Brian
<<Thanks for the questions. A Nixon>>
Hermit crab of Thailand traveled to Holland... ID, care –
08/27/07
L.S., 17 august our son took with him a nice,
empty (so we thought) shell. We were on holiday in Thailand. He
found the shell at the beach at the island Ko Pha Ngan in the
Gulf of Thailand. After more than 24 hours of traveling we
exposed the shell at home on a table and had a look at it once
in a while (dreaming about Ko Pha Ngan). Saturday evening (25
august) we looked at it again and saw it walking! The shell
obviously was not so empty as we thought. We think it is a
marine hermit crab. The shell is about 7 cm long.
The crab
has dark brown paws with little hair and blue stripes. I asked
my son and he told me he found the shell at the beach, near the
coral, but within the range of tide. I would have loved to bring
back the poor animal.
Unfortunately, Thailand is so far away.
So I called the Zoo of Rotterdam and asked them if they could
take care of our new pet. They will!!! We brought it yesterday
to the zoo. They will investigate which kind of hermit crab it
is but I am not sure if they succeed (they have so many animals
to take care of.). So I looked on Internet to see if I can learn
more about hermit crabs. At that moment I found your marvelous
site. I hope you or the forum could help me in identifying the
creature. Attached you'll find a picture of the crab. Maybe one
glance at it is enough to identify the animal? If so, I can
inform the Zoo so they can take even better care of the crab. We
hope you will have a look at the picture. I tried to post this
message on the forum but unfortunately this was not possible
(the sign-in process was the problem).
Thanks a lot for
answering,
Best regards
Annemarij
<Hallo Annemarij! The
crab looks like a Clibanarius sp. hermit crab. These are quite
common in the aquarium trade. They are very hardy animals and
easy to keep. There are many species, some found in freshwater,
brackish, and marine environments. Many species are intertidal
animals, adapted to quite extreme changes in temperature and
salinity. This is probably why they do so well in aquaria! The
feed mostly on algae and organic detritus. Marine aquarists
usually keep Clibanarius tricolor, a marine/brackish water
species; freshwater aquarists may sometimes be offered
Clibanarius africanus. Assuming you found your specimen on a
saltwater beach, then you should keep the hermit crab in a
tropical marine aquarium. Generally these hermit crabs are
unproblematic. The only issue when keeping hermit crabs is they
need access to empty shells as they grow. I hope this helps,
Neale>
Re: hermit crab of Thailand traveled to Holland 8/28/07
Dear Neale,
Thanks a lot for answering my mail! It certainly
help me. I'll inform the Zoo Blijdorp of Rotterdam and hope that
'our' crab will have a happy and long life.
Again, many
thanks.
Best regards,
Annemarij
<You're most welcome,
and I'm glad the little crab is going to have a pleasant life at
such a nice zoo. Cheers, Neale> |
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