Do you think you know your hermit crabs that well? Maybe you don’t, so here are more interesting and fun facts about hermit crabs.
- Hermit crabs never leave their shells, they are dependent on them. The only time you’ll see a hermit crab leave its shell is if they are going to find a better shell than their old one.
- Hermit crabs are crustaceans, so believe it or not, they are related to shrimps, crabs, lobsters. Technically, hermit crabs are not true ‘crabs’ since they don’t have hard exoskeletons like crabs do.
- When they grow, they undergo a process called ‘Molting’. And during molting, hermit crabs shed their exoskeletons and re-growing a new one. While molting, hermit crabs are highly vulnerable to harm from other hermit crabs and for protection, they dig themselves into the sand.
- In the wild, hermit crabs are scavengers, and they will eat anything they can find! This includes dead animals, dried fruits, and even other small fish and shrimps.
- The ‘hair’ covering hermit crabs are not just for aesthetics, it is actually believed that they use these hairs for tasting and smelling.
- Experts say hermit crabs have these symbiotic relations with some seawater creatures such as sea anemones. Anemones are beneficial for hermit crabs because they get rid of predators by stinging them while Anemones benefits from hermit crabs from their leftovers since they feed on them. And when hermit crabs, looks for a new shell to move to, anemones are also seen to move with the hermit crabs.
- As mentioned on fact number 3, hermit crabs undergo molting of which they grow in size. And this means they are also going to look for a new shell to move in, if they were not able to find a suitable shell for them, they will decrease their size while molting.
- Hermit crabs are highly competitive when it comes to choosing shells and they will fight with other hermit crabs over the best shells. Whoever wins will be the one housing on the best shells, that’s why when they are in captivity, owners are encouraged to provide them a variety of shells with different sizes and openings so this can be avoided.
- Did you know that there isn’t just one hermit crab specie that exists? There are in fact more than 1,100 hermit crab species that exists all over the world!
- Hermit crabs have a bigger ‘relative’ and its called Coconut Crab also known as the ‘robber crab’ or ‘palm thief’. They can weigh up to 4.1 kgs or 9.0 lbs and the can grow up to 1m (3 ft 3 in) in length from each tip to tip of the leg.