Common hermit crab
Pagurus bernhardus
- Scientific name
- Pagurus bernhardus
- Group
- Crustaceans
- Rarity
- Common
- Where to see it
- Mediterranean, Temperate Atlantic / English Channel
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Not evaluated
Did you know?
The common hermit crab doesn't build its own shell — it moves into an empty snail shell and must trade up for a bigger one as it grows. Its soft, curled, unprotected abdomen explains why it depends entirely on borrowed shells.
What defines this group — Crustaceans
Armoured arthropods: crabs, shrimp and lobsters, all built around an external shell.
- The skeleton is on the outside; growing means shedding it — the moult.
- Jointed legs in pairs, often reshaped into claws or antennae.
- The larvae drift with the plankton in open water before settling on the bottom.
Other species in this group
- Green shore crab
- Caribbean spiny lobster
- Skunk cleaner shrimp
- Spinous spider crab
- Common prawn
- Norway lobster