Hermit Crab - The Nomad Crustacean
The Crustaceans are animals belonging to a subphylum that includes one of the planet's most numerous invertebrate groups, with approximately 70,000 known species. Of these, there are certain species known as hermit crab or paguru, marine crustaceans devoid of carapace in the abdomen.
Characteristics and Habitat
This animal is not able to produce its own shell, it needs that gastropods die so that it finds one and uses like shelter. That is, strange as it may sound, its life depends on the death of another being. The crustacean carries the shell on its back throughout its life, and is forced to search for a new and larger as it grows (it can reach up to 40cm in length). As it get older, it migrates to greater depths of 20-40 meters. Next to the beaches there are only young hermit crabs.
Source
This is not just a one specie of animal, hermit crab is a generic name for about 500 different types of species, and although most are aquatic, some of these crabs are terrestrial. In nature, the composition of the hermit community, both in number and diversity of species, is strongly related to the availability of shells. More aggressive species and larger specimens tend to choose the most "comfortable" shells to wear, leaving the less attractive to those who can not compete for it. Although it may seem like a detail, carrying an improper ladle is a factor of high stress for the animal, which can lead to its death.
Habits
It lives near rocks and drags a shell where it is shelter. Out of the shell, the animal is vulnerable because its abdomen is soft, devoid of carapace. When the shell in which it takes refuge is too small, it looks for a larger shell and even kills the mollusc from which it wants the shell. The hermit crab removes the anemones fixed in rocks and lodge it on the shell to protect itself. The anemone protects with its stinging cells, which distract the predators, in exchange for the advantage of being displaced along with the crustacean, thus broadening its range of action besides receiving leftover food. The hermit cut up the fish and other food, so the little pieces that are floating around are captured by the anemones
Food and reproduction
Its feeding is based on plankton (microscopic animals dispersed in the column of water with low power swimming), other crustaceans and small fish. Mating occurs twice a year and the abdominal appendages in females carry the eggs, which are kept there until it hatch; the pups pass into the water in swimming larvae stage. The larvae eventually metamorphose itself into small crabs and from there it begin to look for its own shells.
A new discovery
Despite problems in finding a new home, a hermit crab species avoids all this hoof rental, choosing to reside within a living coral, which grows along with the crab, meaning that there is no longer the need for it to relocate since your room gets a bit tight. Named Diogenes heteropsammicola, it was recently discovered in 2017 by scientists from Kyoto University in the Amami Islands, a chain of subtropical islands north of Okinawa, Japan. The curious fact is that the animal seems to use as houses only the corals that are isolated and growing. Although some hermit crabs are known to have houses that grow with its bodies, this new Japanese species is the first to use a living coral. The finding was published in a scientific article.
Diogenes heteropsammicola Source
Gastronomy - In the Balearic Islands, Spain, hermit crabs are eaten cooked, grilled, usually with lemon and pepper. The flesh of the abdomen of these crabs is soft and has a very characteristic flavor. Despite this, there is not much demand because consumption is very small and little known.
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