Marine life  /  Hermit crabs  /  Galapagos hermit crab
Entry in progress
Species entry

Galapagos hermit crab

Calcinus explorator

A small hermit crab with blue-banded legs, out on Galapagos rock and rubble in numbers.

Size
To 4 cm
Depth
0–15 m
Habitat
Shallow rock and tide pools
Active
Day and night
Range
Eastern Pacific
Rarity
Galapagos Islands
1 star of 5, found on most dives
SP-01
galapagos hermit crab · full body · habitat
4:3 · min 2400px

Carapace to about 1.2 cm, so a small hermit. Orange-tipped claws and legs against a dark body, which is where its other name, the orange-tipped hermit crab, comes from.

No confusion species was found in the sources, and Calcinus identification without a close view of the claw should be treated as genus-level.

Intertidal and shallow subtidal.

One flag. The Charles Darwin Foundation checklist gives it as endemic to the Galapagos and Cocos and records it from Darwin, Isabela, San Cristobal and Santa Cruz. It does not support the Revillagigedo record on this page.

Where to find:

LocationRarity Best monthsDepthHabitat
Galapagos Islands Ecuador editorial estimate
1 star of 5, found on most dives
Year-round
0–15 m
Shallow rock and tide pools
Islas Revillagigedo Mexico editorial estimate
2 stars of 5, usually seen in a week
Year-round
0–15 m
Shallow rock

Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.

Related species

SP
anemone hermit crab
16:10
Anemone hermit crab
Dardanus pedunculatus
SP
blue-legged hermit crab
16:10
Blue-legged hermit crab
Calcinus elegans
SP
coral hermit crab
16:10
Coral hermit crab
Paguritta
SP
giant hermit crab
16:10
Giant hermit crab
Petrochirus diogenes