Hermit Crab

ID points

• Soft abdomen tucked into a borrowed empty snail shell
• The two claws are clearly unequal in size
• Must keep moving into bigger shells as it grows

Basics

Family

Paguroidea

Length

2–15 cm

Depth

0-50 m

Regions

Indo-Pacific reefs · Caribbean & W. Atlantic

Distribution

Intertidal zone and shallow water in oceans worldwide

Diet

Carrion and algae

Easily confused with

Banded Coral ShrimpAlternating red and white bands cover the claws and the bodyBlennyOften has forked fleshy tentacles above the eyesBoxer CrabEach claw holds a small anemone like a boxing glove

Fun fact

Its soft abdomen has no hard shell of its own, so it borrows an empty snail shell to live in and looks for a bigger one as it grows. Sometimes a whole line of hermit crabs will queue up to swap shells in turn.