This page links to photos of hermit crabs we have seen in the Marshall Islands. Several families of hermit crabs constitute one subgroup (superfamily) of the Anomuran crabs; other Anomurans are on a separate page. With one exception, hermit crabs have a soft abdomen that they protect by living in snail shells left empty by the death of the mollusk that made them. I think usually the hermits find the shells empty, but we have seen a few crabs in the process of tearing out mollusk tissue from shells, so in some cases they may evict (and probably eat) the mollusk. Many thanks to Eiji Myorin and the hermit crab visual dictionary for help identifying some of our unknowns. We welcome any other corrections at uwkwaj@yahoo.com.
Click on a thumbnail below to see larger and additional images of that species.
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