Hermit crabs as we know are quite fascinating little creatures that we didn’t know have a lot of surprises. They are crustaceans which also include crabs, shrimps, and starfish and they belong to the superfamily of Paguroidea. And did you know that there are 7 different families and around 1100 species of hermit crabs that are living and present around the world?
Hermit crabs are divided into two groups which are: aquatic and terrestrial. They may be different in a group but both groups are using their gills to breathe. So how do both groups get their oxygen? Well, aquatic hermit crabs get their oxygen from the water while land-based hermit crabs always keep their gills moist.
Interesting right? Well here are more fun facts about Hermit Crabs!
Fun Fact #1:
| House Moving – As Hermit Crabs grows, they are known to move from one shell to the other. The new shell they move in is always bigger than their previous shells. |
Fun Fact #2:
| Show whose the boss! – Hermit Crabs are not that gentle creature as they occasionally fight with other hermit crabs so they can conquer and occupy their opponent’s better shells than they currently have. |
Fun Fact #3:
| Flexible diet – Hermit crabs omnivore creatures. Their diet revolves around what are available to scavenge like: veggies, fruits, barks. They also hunt the following creatures for food: tube worms, small shrimps, other crabs, and even sea horses! |
Fun Fact #4:
| Quite the sociable creature – Despite of its name, Hermit Crab. They are not solitary creatures since they live in large hermit crab colonies which consists of 100 or more other hermit crabs! Imagine that |
Fun Fact #5:
| Fast to adapt – Hermit crabs are quite fast to adapt in choosing their shells, as they can use different types of ababandoned shells. The usual shells they use are from sea snail, they use it protect their soft body and also to keep their gills moist. |
Fun Fact #5:
| Living a long life – Hermit crabs has a long life span, their average lifespan is 15 to 20 years in the captivity. One of the land hermit crab such as Coenobita brevimanus has an average lifespan of 12 to 70 years! That’s almost as long as a typical pet turtle! |