Hermit Crabs

[Zygiella]

Hi

Could anyone tell me if there are different types of hermit crab?

Also - are they more active at certain times of the year and when and how do they breed?

I often go to Whitby and at low tide I go out on the east cliff beach and find loads of them - they are great to watch - very funny, the way they prod their nippers into each others shells and drag each other along!

Ive got some great photos of them (but I cant work out how to upload them yet )

If anyone wants to identify my Whitby hermits I could email my pics to them

[honeybee]

I was a bit shocked to see they're the trendy new pet to keep. There was a tank of them at a pet shop but they barely had any water. They can't be the same as the ones we find when rock pooling can they?

[zan]

Hiya

There are 3 main species of hermit crab in the UK: Pagurus bernhardus (common H.C.), Pagurus cuanensis (hairy H.C.) and Pagurus prideaux. P. prideaux often has a little pink anemone on its back (Adamsia sp.) and is the easiest way of telling them apart from the common one. The hairy one is pretty small (1.5cm carapace length) and is furry looking (funnily enough!). Hope this is some help!

As far as breeding goes, many crabs will pair up before moulting (the male hangs onto the female until she is ready to moult). Once the female sheds her carapace for a new one, she can also then breed with the male. I don't know if this is also true for hermit crabs, but it is possible.

Zan

[Zygiella]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I was a bit shocked to see they're the trendy new pet to keep. There was a tank of them at a pet shop but they barely had any water. They can't be the same as the ones we find when rock pooling can they?

I think there are land crabs - but Im not a crab expert! I prefer to see creatures (any creatures) in their natural environment than in a tank - poor hermit crabs - I bet a lot die because people dont know how to look after them

I gather hermit crabs are rather sociable as when I see them there are always large colonies feeding and squabbling together!

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by zan

Hiya

There are 3 main species of hermit crab in the UK: Pagurus bernhardus (common H.C.), Pagurus cuanensis (hairy H.C.) and Pagurus prideaux. P. prideaux often has a little pink anemone on its back (Adamsia sp.) and is the easiest way of telling them apart from the common one. The hairy one is pretty small (1.5cm carapace length) and is furry looking (funnily enough!). Hope this is some help!

As far as breeding goes, many crabs will pair up before moulting (the male hangs onto the female until she is ready to moult). Once the female sheds her carapace for a new one, she can also then breed with the male. I don't know if this is also true for hermit crabs, but it is possible.

Zan

Yes i would agree there, the other two species (Cestopagurus timidus & Clibanarius erythropus) are very restricted and not recorded at Whitby. Pagurus cuanensis although not rare can be quite local, it is also not a species associated with Whitby. Your species is highly likely to be Pagurus bernhardus which is common and at Whitby.

[Marineboy]

Hi there - the hermit crabs you found are most likely our commonest species, Pagurus bernhardus. Small one will inhabit small winkle shells, while the bigger specimens off shore will take on big empty whelk shells. And they do get quite big. One word of warning on these crabs though - the small ones, for a rockpool species, they are surprisingly very sensitive to low oxygen levels and once stressed will abandon their seashell home and scurry about naked! So be aware of that if you pop them in a bucket for any length of time.
The hermits that were seen in the pet shop - the ones with very little water - I hope are species of land hermit crabs. The usual species is Coenobita clypeatus from warmer climates. For a crab that appears to need little water, they have a secret - they often have a water supply held inside the whorls of the seashell they inhabit. With this on board, and wetted gills, they can make dry land their home and wander off into the forests. I have had my little colony of these in a "dry" tank for the last 4 years. Just one of 5 land crab species I have at the moment. They do not need a lot of water. In fact, a real land crab will very quickly drown if it can not get out of the water. All our UK species are aquatic. There are a couple of alien invaders now in the UK however that do have the habit of crawling out of the water and across land in search of new waters to inhabit - the Chinese Mitten crab and the American Signal Crayfish.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I was a bit shocked to see they're the trendy new pet to keep. There was a tank of them at a pet shop but they barely had any water. They can't be the same as the ones we find when rock pooling can they?

no they were probably tropical marine and yes very sad you can only hope they were captive bred butI don't even know if that's possible... The pet trade has a lot ot answer for.....

I do have tropical fish as a hobby but take care to ensure my fish are captively bred as best I can and bred in Britain if at all possible.

[demicav]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I was a bit shocked to see they're the trendy new pet to keep. There was a tank of them at a pet shop but they barely had any water. They can't be the same as the ones we find when rock pooling can they?

I've noticed them in the pet shop as well. It worries me that people will buy on impulse or it will set a trend for people to save money and beach collect instead.