Hermit Crabs Codexery

Diogenes pugilator

A small hermit crab with a large left claw and wide geographic range.

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Diogenes pugilator

Hans Hillewaert · via Wikipedia: Diogenes pugilator · CC BY-SA 4.0

It has a yellowish-green carapace that may reach up to 11 mm in length.[1] In contrast to many hermit crabs, the left claw of Diogenes pugilator is noticeably bigger than the right one.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumArthropoda
  3. CladePancrustacea
  4. ClassMalacostraca
  5. OrderDecapoda
  6. SuborderPleocyemata
  7. InfraorderAnomura
  8. FamilyDiogenidae
  9. GenusDiogenes
  10. SpeciesDiogenes pugilator

Named by (Roux, 1829)

Close relatives

Other species of Diogenes with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Diogenes pugilator (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 107199 (CC BY 4.0)

Where the diogenes pugilator has been recorded

Where the diogenes pugilator has been recorded39 mapped locations from 55,448 GBIF occurrence records

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (55,448 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 57 inland records left out (institution coordinates). 1 isolated far-off record not drawn.

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)

Biology and range

The carapace is squarish with triangular projections along the front edge and hairs on the front two corners.[2] Both claws are covered with short hairs.[2] Jean Louis Florent Polydore Roux originally described this crab in 1829, giving it the name Pagurus pugilator.[3] To protect its soft abdomen, this crab, like all hermit crabs, hides it inside an empty shell from a gastropod mollusc.[2]

The stalks bearing the eyes measure roughly half the carapace's width.[2] The temperate and subtropical waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean are the native habitat of D. pugilator.[4] The crab Liocarcinus depurator preys on D. pugilator and may help control its population numbers.[5]

What the specialist sources record

The Marlin account notes that D. pugilator differs from most hermit crabs by having the left claw considerably larger than the right.[1] The Crab database states that the major larger claw is always on the left side nearest the apex of the adopted shell when viewed from the front.[6] The same source reports that Diogenes buries rapidly and that the south-paw arrangement of the chelae is connected with burying.[6] The Marlin account describes the species as a yellowish-green hermit crab.[1]

The Crab database notes that if Pagurus and Diogenes are together in similar shells, the Diogenes become active after disturbance much more quickly.[6] If uncovered, these crabs quickly dig into the sand, using their larger left claw to keep themselves steady.[7]

References

  1. Barnes, M.K.S., "A hermit crab: Diogenes pugilator", Marlin, 13 May 2008. facts only, no text reused. marlin.ac.uk
  2. Wikipedia, "Diogenes pugilator" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barnes, M.K.S., "A hermit crab: Diogenes pugilator", Marlin, 13 May 2008 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Diogenes pugilator" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Roux, P. (1828-1830). Crustacés de la Méditerranée et de son Littoral, Décrits et Lithographiés. i-iv + 1-176 pp., pls. 1-45. Paris & Marseille: Chez Levrault (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Diogenes pugilator" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Barnes, M.K.S., "A hermit crab: Diogenes pugilator", Marlin, 13 May 2008; "The hermit crab Diogenes pugilator (Roux, 1829) in Irish waters", Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 2000, p. 115–118 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Diogenes pugilator" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Intraspecific relationships of the hermit crab Diogenes pugilator: predation and competition", Hydrobiologia, 2000, p. 43–48 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Rees, Ivor, "South-claw Hermit Crab", Crab database. facts only, no text reused. glaucus.org.uk
  7. Wikipedia, "Diogenes pugilator" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rees, Ivor, "South-claw Hermit Crab", Crab database (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Diogenes pugilator (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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