Hermit Crabs

Superfamily PaguroideaScientific Name Pagurus Berharus

- Most Hermit crabs tend to use the shell of sea snails

- There are over 500 species of hermit crab

Description- Have long curved abdomens which are soft

unlike most crustceans - The tip of its abdomen is adapted to grasp

onto the Columella strongly

-Species of Hermit Crabs range from millimeters to the size of a coconut

-Squat Lobster and porcelain crabs are the most closely related to hermit crabs

compared to actual crabs(Porcelain Crab)

Feeding- Hermit crabs are not picky when it come to

eating, they are scavenger- They will eat algee, things from dead fish, sea weed, meats, and basically anything they come

across in the wild

Development- First two stages which occur inside the egg

include Nauplius and protozoea- Hermit Crabs usually hatch at the third stage,

Zoea which is the larval stage- During the 3rd stage they develop long narrow

abdomens, large antennae and multiple long spines

Habitat-Some hermit crabs are aquatic and others are

terrestrial -Aquatic range from the coral reef and shallows to

the bottom of the sea- Terrestrial normally live in the tropics or the

Caribbean(Caribbean hermit crab)

Facts-Of the terrestrial hermit crabs Caribbean,

Australian land, and Ecuadorian are commonly kept as pets

-Can be useful in a household aquarium to eat algae and debris

(Hermit crabs eating algae)