On the dark, frigid, rocky ocean bottom lie hundreds of peach-sized creatures feasting on the remains of dead cuttlefish and shrimp. Meet nature’s little lobster-like scavenger the hermit crab which serves a great purpose in the wild, has an interesting life cycle and also makes a quiet but very interesting pet for some.

Hermit crabs resemble miniature lobsters With a hard upper body, like that of common crabs and a soft, tender and easily irritated lower half, they exhibit four walking legs and a pair of claws. Hermit’s use abandoned shells to house and protect their vulnerable abdomen. The crabs have a long torso and tender abdomens that both curve to fit the inner spiral of their shells. On their backs, they have a little hook which grips the inside of their shell. Of the five hundred species of hermit crabs, most reach a maximum length of about an inch and a half, but adults of other species are the size of a coconut.

Land hermit crabs live mainly in the U.S.A. and Australia and can be found living along coasts or near mangrove swamps. they live in colonies of about one hundred which move between sand dunes and the shoreline high tide mark. These crabs occupy the shells of land snails. Other species live in bits of coral, wood or rock. Oceanic species live on the rocky ocean bottom or in shallow tide pools. They crowd the sea floor in areas bountiful in shells and food.

Hermit crabs require means of protection for their soft, easily irritated abdomen. A shell is crucial for a hermit crab’s protection against sea salt levels and predators. Females even lay their eggs in their shells until the time comes to deposit them on the beach. hermit crabs change their shells as they grow. A properly sized and lightweight hell is critical to a crab’s development. Too large and heavy a shell will be difficult to lift and carry. Too small a shell will not fit and will expose the occupant’s abdomen. So, the ideal shell fits snugly and doesn’t drag along the ground r impede climbing over obstacles. Though hermit crabs search for empty shells to occupy, vacated shells are at times scarce. In such situations, desperate crabs have been known to brutally tear a snail from its shell, and subsequently move in. When a crab selects a shell it backs into it and squishes itself into the internal spiral, gripping on with its rear hook.

Hermit crabs use their shells to protect themselves from predators which include birds and other crabs. When threatened or attacked a frightened hermit crab will with draw into its shell and seal off the entrance with one or both claws. Still an even greater threat to the hermit’s survival is the moonsnail which destroys the crab’s potential homes. A moonsnail drills a hole into the shell of another snail and eats it through tis hole. The drilled shells are weaker than intact shells and so afford less protection to the other wise defenceless hermit crabs considering these shells as a new home. According to a study conducted by Dr. Jan Pech and Sara Lewis on the willingness of a hermit crab to occupy a drilled shell, these crabs prefer an intact shell that is too small for them to a snug-fitting drilled shell.

In the wild,hermit crabs are known as nature’s land scavengers. This is because they will eat the remains of another animal’s meal and just about whatever comes washing up onto the beach. However, their main diet consists of seaweed, dead fish, driftwood, the squid-like cuttlefish and washed up fruit matter like mango seeds. One species of land hermit crab is the robber crab or coconut crab and it feasts on coconut meat. Hermit’s drink freshwater which they obtain from the dew that runs down plant stems and from their food.

There are two stages of a land hermit crabs life cycle, the first of which is the Aquatic stage. In this stage a crab’s life begins with the colony’s females holding a mass spawning on the beach. The eggs are then swept away into the see by the tide. There, the young crabs become a part of the plankton mass and have gills similar to those of fish. When, the crabs have grown to about five millimetres they move to land and into their first shell. This marks the beginning of the Terrestrial stage. Their gills alter slightly and must be kept moist in order to extract oxygen from the air.

Hermit crabs are nocturnal creatures. They spend their days either buried in the sand or snoozing in the cool, low vegetation. as the sun sinks and the air temperature drops, the crabs begin to stir from their hiding places. The colonies wander down to the seashore in search of food and to moisten their gills in the humid air caused by dew falling on the beach. This time is also used for bathing and shell hunting.

Hermit cabs are widely kept as pets in the U.S.A., Europe and Australia. This is mainly because they are small and require only a large aquarium tank to live in, meaning that they can be kept in apartments. Also, as they are inexpensive to feed and care for,several can be kept. However, for captive hermit crabs emaculate surroundings are a requirement for survival, and, since exposure to even a tiny amount of chemical residue from some dish washing liquids has been known to poison them, it has proved a challenge for some pet owners to provide a clean yet chemical free environment. The crabs must be kept away from the harmful and almost ever-present chemicals found in disinfectants, deodorants and air fresheners that are used everyday.

Hermit crabs are small but wonderful creatures. In the wild they act as beach and ocean scavengers and make very interesting pets in captivity. Oceanic or land based, hermit crabs play a necessary and very important role in their ecosystem.