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 › Abécédaire › Hermit crab
Mediterranean species :

Hermit crab

Its abdomen is so soft that it has to protect it inside an empty seashell!
Did you know ?
The hermit crab lives in symbiosis with a sea anemone that it carries around everywhere, even when it changes shells!

Unlike other crustaceans, the hermit crab’s carapace only protects its back so it has to squeeze its abdomen into the empty, salvaged shells of gastropods. Dardanus arrosor is the largest of the Mediterranean species. It has two powerful claws. The left one is much larger than the right. Its carapace is bright red or orange and it has blue eyes on red and white striped stalks. It lives on loose and rocky bottoms down to 100m and feeds on organic waste. Hermit crabs are found in the Mediterranean and also in the Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay to South Africa.

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Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Crustacea
Order: Decapoda
Family: Diogenidae
Scientific name: Dardanus arrosor

French: Bernard l’ermite
Spanish: Ermitaño
Italian: Paguro rugoso
German: Einsiedlerkrebs

Beadlet anemone Prev
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Institut océanographique Paul Ricard
Île des Embiez - 83140 Six-Fours-les-Plages
Tél. +33 (0)4 94 34 02 49
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