Sea Creature Spotlight: Hermit Crabs

Hermit Crab (source)

This Sea Creature Spotlight is about the hermit crab. I like hermit crabs because they are very interesting and I find it cool how they wear shells to protect themselves. Also I think they are very interesting to watch.



What Kinds of Hermit Crabs Are There?

There are two types of hermit crabs. There are land hermit crabs and marine hermit crabs (marine means water).

There are actually around one thousand, one hundred species of hermit crabs. You can find hermit crabs living in varying depths of saltwater and they rarely leave the water for land.  The land type, lives on land, so they don't go in the water that much. The land type can actually be kept as pets. If you want one as a pet, you can buy one at a pet store.

A Coconut Crab (source)

And You Thought Your Relatives Were A Bit Nutty!

Something neat or interesting about hermit crabs is that they are related to a species of crab called the coconut crab. This crab is so strong that it breaks open coconuts and eats them. They are like the 'Superman' of the crab world! 😄

The Hunt for a New Home

Since hermit crabs live in their shells, they have to get new ones every once in a while. No, it is not because they don't like to clean their rooms. They outgrow them! When a new shell washes up on the beach, the hermit crab takes it if it fits. Usually, the old one is taken by a new one.

Did you know that when hermit crabs are looking for a new shell, they will sometimes line up in an orderly line by size? After lining up in order, they perform a sort of 'shell exchange' and hand their shell off and receive a new one. How cool is that?





You can check this fun process out in this video from BBC Earth below:

Thanks for swimming by...

I think hermit crabs are amazing creatures. I hope as much fun reading about them as I did learning about them.

Feeling Crabby?

You could try and work a crab jigsaw puzzle in the Fun and Games section and see if it helps your mood!!

Or, you could download this really fun Hermit Crab Coloring and Activity Book (PDF) from the University of Southern Mississippi Center for Fisheries Research and Development.