Hermit crab

Hermit crab

  • Land hermit crabs ( Coenobitidae )
  • Left-handed hermit crabs ( Diogenidae )
  • Right-handed hermit crabs ( Paguridae )
  • Deep-sea hermit crabs ( Parapaguridae )
  • Parapylochelidae
  • Pylochelidae
  • Pylojacquesidae

To the superfamily of the hermit and stone crabs ( Paguroidea ) include four families of hermit crabs and two further families with Pylojacquesidae and Pylochelidae.

They get their name because they live in snail shells or similar hollow objects. This behavior is vital for them since their abdomen (abdomen) is soft and unprotected, and predators can serve as a point of attack. In the course of growth larger snail shells are always needed for exchange.

Hermit crabs have as decapods ( Decapoda ) five pairs of limbs, a pair of scissor legs, two pairs of walking legs, sticking out of the shell and which they use to hold two pairs of small, stunted legs the shell. The families of the Left Hand hermit crabs ( Diogenidae ) and the right-handed hermit crabs ( Paguridae ) differ by the side on which they carry the larger leg scissors, with which they close the entrance of their housing.

There are also sessile living Paguroiden, for example, in stony corals of the genus Porites live and catch with their converted to fishing nets sensors plankton. The land hermit crabs ( Coenobitidae ), known, for example, the coconut crab, spend their entire lives except the larval stage on land. Into the water they go only to fill their gill chambers with water, and the females to release the larvae according to their slack there. However, the aforementioned coconut crab has only rudimentary gills and wears the adult stage no protection.

Common Hermit Crab

Swell

  • Sammy De Grave, N. Dean Pentcheff, Shane T. Ahyong et al. A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement No.. 21, 2009, pp. 1-109 (pdf 7,73 Mb, accessed 11 March 2012 ).
Pleocyemata
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