Invertebrate
Invertebrate
Land Hermit Crab
Coenobita clypeatus
The Land Hermit Crab is a common sight along Trinidad and Tobago's coastlines, a terrestrial crustacean that spends its entire adult life carrying a borrowed snail shell for protection, upgrading to larger shells as it grows.
The Land Hermit Crab is a common sight along Trinidad and Tobago's coastlines, a terrestrial crustacean that spends its entire adult life carrying a borrowed snail shell for protection, upgrading to larger shells as it grows.
Identification
A crab-like crustacean with a soft, spirally curled abdomen that lacks the hard shell covering true crabs, tucked protectively into a scavenged empty snail shell. Its legs and one enlarged claw are hard and pigmented in shades of reddish-brown to purple, and only these visible parts protrude from the borrowed shell.
Behaviour
Forages mainly at night along beaches, coastal scrub, and forest edge near the shore, scavenging on plant material, carrion, and detritus. As it grows it must periodically find and move into a larger shell, and competition for good-quality shells can be intense, with crabs sometimes queuing near a recently vacated or particularly desirable shell to exchange in sequence.
Status in T&T
Common along coastal areas of both Trinidad and Tobago. Not considered threatened, though populations can be affected by beach litter that traps or kills crabs, and by collection for the pet trade.
Threats
- Beach litter trapping or killing crabs
- Collection for the pet trade
