Hermit crab ID?
- Thread starter Aidenb
- Start date
Shawn O
Active member
I have one of that same species in my tank and have been trying to ID it for a few months. The guy I bought my tank from lives on the coast near Cape Cod and had said he'd collected some things from the beach and added them to the tank. I've been trying to compare it to the species near me and have come up with:
Flat-clawed hermit crab (pagurus pollicaris), Acadian hermit crab (Pagurus acadianus) and Long-armed hermit crab (Pagurus longicarpus) as being local species. It is definitely NOT Longicarpus, as that is the most common tide pool dweller here. The second most common is the Acadian, which I've not seen a juvenile example yet to compare it against.
I've found some species online that are close but none seem to have the same first walking leg on the right side as this does. That seems to be the most distinctive trait of this hermit.
May I ask where you obtained this crab from? Collected locally or did it hitchhike in some live rock?
As for peacefulness, seems to be the most peaceful animal I've ever seen. Moves a little bit, stops to eat for what seems like hours then seems to go to sleep for days. There has been times it didn't move for close to a week and then it was off to scavenge what it could find on the rocks. A very shy hermit that doesn't behave socially, as most hermits seem to.
Flat-clawed hermit crab (pagurus pollicaris), Acadian hermit crab (Pagurus acadianus) and Long-armed hermit crab (Pagurus longicarpus) as being local species. It is definitely NOT Longicarpus, as that is the most common tide pool dweller here. The second most common is the Acadian, which I've not seen a juvenile example yet to compare it against.
I've found some species online that are close but none seem to have the same first walking leg on the right side as this does. That seems to be the most distinctive trait of this hermit.
May I ask where you obtained this crab from? Collected locally or did it hitchhike in some live rock?
As for peacefulness, seems to be the most peaceful animal I've ever seen. Moves a little bit, stops to eat for what seems like hours then seems to go to sleep for days. There has been times it didn't move for close to a week and then it was off to scavenge what it could find on the rocks. A very shy hermit that doesn't behave socially, as most hermits seem to.
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