Pagurus pollicaris

Pagurus pollicaris
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Superfamily: Paguroidea
Family: Paguridae
Genus: Pagurus
Species: P. pollicaris
Binomial name
Pagurus pollicaris
Say, 1817 [1]

Pagurus pollicaris is a hermit crab commonly found along the Atlantic coast of North America from New Brunswick to the Gulf of Mexico. It is known by a number of common names, including gray hermit crab,[1] flat-clawed hermit crab,[2] flatclaw hermit crab,[1] shield hermit crab,[2] thumb-clawed hermit crab,[3] broad-clawed hermit crab,[4] and warty hermit crab.[5]

P. pollicaris inhabits the shells of shark eye snails and whelks.[4] It grows to a length of 31 millimetres (1.2 in) and a width of 25 mm (1.0 in).[2] The shell is often shared by the commensal zebra flatworm (Stylochus ellipticus).[2]

The diet of the flat-clawed hermit crab comprises organic matter, algae, and sometimes other hermit crabs. Fish are the most important predators of this species.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Pagurus pollicaris Say, 1817". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=97809. 
  2. ^ a b c d Andrew J. Martinez & Candace Storm Martinez (2003). "Flat-clawed hermit crab Pagurus pollicaris". Marine Life of the North Atlantic: Canada to New England (3rd ed.). Aqua Quest Publications. pp. 162. ISBN 9781881652328. 
  3. ^ Susan B. Rothschild (2004). Beachcomber's Guide to Gulf Coast Marine Life: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida (3rd ed.). Taylor Trade Publications. ISBN 9781589790612. 
  4. ^ a b Alice Jane Lippson & Robert L. Lippson (2006). "Intertidal flats". Life in the Chesapeake Bay (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 57–93. ISBN 9780801883385. 
  5. ^ R. P. Cowles (1930). "A biological study of the offshore waters of Chesapeake Bay" (PDF). Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries 46: 276–381. http://fishbull.noaa.gov/46-1/cowles.pdf.