Marine life  /  Hermit crabs
10 of 1316 species
Group

Hermit crabs

Crabs that live in a shell they did not grow. Most are out on open sand after dark and are among the easiest animals to find on a night dive.

Species
10
Depth
0–30 m
Rarity range
1 star of 5, found on most divesto 4 stars of 5, two or three a season
Night only
4
Can hurt a diver
None
Destinations
11

The shell decides much of what the animal does. A hermit crab outgrows its shell and has to change, which is when it is most exposed, and several species carry passengers on the shell: the anemone hermit crab plants anemones on its own and moves them across when it changes house.

The coral hermit crab breaks the pattern. It does not carry a shell at all but lives in a hole in living coral and puts out feathered antennae to filter the water, so it reads as a worm until it withdraws.

10 species

Photographed first, then commonest

10 written up, none photographed yet

Every one has a page. They are shown as a list rather than as pictures because nothing has been photographed or logged for them yet, and a species with nothing behind it should not sit in front of one that has.

Where they are recorded

How many of the 10 carry a record at each destination. A species usually carries several, so these do not add up to 10.

Lembeh Strait 7 Anilao 6 Dauin & Dumaguete 6 Bali 5 Papua New Guinea 5 Ambon 3 Florida 2 Bahamas 2 Cayman Islands 2 Galapagos Islands 1 Islas Revillagigedo 1

The other groups

Anemonefish 11 Angelfish 25 Batfish 3 Blennies 26 Butterflyfish 35 Cardinalfish 13 Damselfish 32 Dottybacks 5 Dragonets 5 Eels & garden eels 18 Flatfish 8 Frogfish & anglers 26 Goatfish 8 Gobies & dartfish 29 Groupers & anthias 42 Hawkfish 5 Jacks & open-water fish 29 Jawfish 4 Lizardfish & flatheads 10 Morays 26 Morwongs & trumpeters 4 Parrotfish 16 Pufferfish & boxfish 23 Rabbitfish 5 Scorpionfish & lionfish 47 Seahorses & pipefish 53 Shrimpgobies 17 Snappers, breams & sweetlips 39 Squirrelfish & soldierfish 9 Surgeonfish & unicornfish 26 Triggerfish & filefish 25 Trumpetfish & cornetfish 4 Wrasses 56 Other fish 46 Sharks & rays 63 Turtles, sea snakes & crocodiles 11 Marine mammals & birds 10 Cephalopods 36 Nudibranchs & sea slugs 137 Sea snails & shells 26 Shrimps 38 Mantis shrimps 5 Crabs 45 Lobsters & squat lobsters 13 Isopods & parasitic crustaceans 5 Amphipods 2 Sea stars 18 Brittle stars & basket stars 7 Feather stars 2 Sea urchins 23 Sea cucumbers 12 Worms 11 Flatworms 3 Jellyfish & stinging drifters 10 Anemones & zoanthids 12 Corals & sponges 29 Sea squirts 4 Blackwater & plankton 52 Other invertebrates 2

All 1316 species in one index, with filters for destination, rarity and hazard.

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