Coenobita
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 Caribbean hermit crab, Coenobita clypeatus
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C. brevimanus |
The genus Coenobita contains the thirteen species of terrestrial hermit crabs. They are able to live on land because of their modified gills, although they still require a warm, humid environment. They can live several miles from water in moist forests and jungles.
Land hermit crabs live in colonies of 100 and more, feeding on plant and animal matter. They are omnivorous scavengers which eat plant and animal matter, including fallen fruit, rotting wood, decaying animals and fish.
[edit] Terrestrial hermit crabs as pets
The land hermit crabs most commonly kept as pets in the United States are the Caribbean hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus, sometimes called the "purple pincher") and the Ecuadorian hermit crab (Coenobita compressus). Other species such as Coenobita brevamanus, Coenobita rugosus, Coenobita perlatus and Coenobita cavipes are slowly becoming equally as common.
In Australia, the only land hermit crabs once kept as pets were the Australian land hermit crab (Coenobita variabilis) and the strawberry land hermit crab (Coenobita perlatus), which are native to the Australia, Indonesia and other islands in the Pacific Ocean, but due to the fact that they are critically threatened, they are no longer sold as pets in Australia.
[edit] External links
- Distribution of coenobita
- Overview of the species of land hermit crabs and their habitat, food, larval development, body mass
- Hermit crab anatomy
- The anatomy of the land hermit crab
- The life-cycle of a land hermit crab
- The loss and regeneration of limbs
- How old is my hermit crab?
- Land hermit crab photos
- Photos of several species of land hermit crabs
