Blue-legged hermit crab
A small Caribbean hermit crab valued for its cleaning habits.
Last updated
The blue-legged hermit crab (Clibanarius tricolor) is a small marine crustacean found in shallow waters of the Caribbean Sea. It is popular in the home aquarium trade due to its coloration and its role as a detritivore that helps clean the tank.
Scientific classification
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumArthropoda
- CladePancrustacea
- ClassMalacostraca
- OrderDecapoda
- SuborderPleocyemata
- InfraorderAnomura
- FamilyDiogenidae
- GenusClibanarius
- SpeciesClibanarius tricolor
Named by (Gibbes, 1850)
Close relatives
Other species of Clibanarius with a Codexery entry.
- Clibanarius erythropus Clibanarius erythropus
- Thinstripe hermit crab Clibanarius vittatus
Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Clibanarius tricolor (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 367527 (CC BY 4.0)
Where the blue-legged hermit crab has been recorded
Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (1,329 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 40 inland records left out (institution coordinates). 2 isolated far-off records not drawn.
Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Quick Facts
- Scientific name
- Clibanarius tricolor
- Distribution
- Caribbean Sea
- Habitat
- Shallow water, rocky areas with 30 cm (1 ft) of water
- Diet
- Detritivore: dead plants and animals
- green hair algae
- cyanobacteria
- seaweed
- and sifts through sand for food
Facts from the source article.
Background
Clibanarius tricolor has blue legs with red banding between each segment, reaching up to 2 centimeters in size. Males are larger than females, as is typical for most hermit crab species. It lives in shallow waters of the Caribbean Sea, often congregating in rocky areas with about 30 centimeters of water. During the day, the crabs move slowly or rest, with feeding beginning at dusk and continuing through the night.
Members of the same group tend to move in one general direction while feeding, similar to grazing cattle, and return to their congregation by 4:30 in the morning. Most crabs stay with the same respective groups day after day. Shell fighting occurs in this species. An attacking crab approaches from behind, turns the victim on its back, and may spin both crab and shell multiple times.
The attacker raises its own shell and brings it down rapidly, repeating the process until it kicks the victim out of the shell. If the attack fails, the victim may remain upside down and face another attack.
More in Shrimp, Crabs & Urchins
Elsewhere in Reef Aquarium Species
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.
- Wikipedia: Clibanarius tricolor (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Classification: the source article's taxobox; order, family and genus checked against WoRMS, the World Register of Marine Species (CC BY 4.0).
- Occurrence records: GBIF (CC0 / CC BY). Basemap: Natural Earth (public domain).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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