Dardanus lagopodes is common on lagoon, pinnacle and seaward reefs at Kwajalein. These get pretty large, the first one below occupying a very old shell of Harpigo chiragra, a shell that can grow to at least 19cm at Kwajalein. Black patches on the walking legs and purple to black patches on the chelipeds help distinguish this species from a couple of similar ones.
In the shell of Conus circumcisus.
In a large top shell, formerly Tectus niloticus, now apparently Rochia nilotica.
A young specimen in the textile cone shell, Conus textile.
The one below found by Stan Jazwinski at Ailinglaplap Atoll looks like a juvenile D. lagopodes. Compared to the young but larger individual in the photo above, the appendages are quite similar. The bluish eye probably darkens to black as it grows.
Sometimes a crab has to take what is available. This one is in the remaining part of a Harpago chiragra that has the back of the shell broken out.
The next two show smaller hermit individuals in shells of Conus floccatus.
Created 10 August 2018
Updated 5 July 2022