Hermit Crabs: A reason to keep our beaches clean

The hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus) is a crustacean, but very different from other crustaceans. While most crustaceans are covered from head to tail with a hard exoskeleton, the hermit crab is missing part of its exoskeleton. The back part where its abdomen is located is soft and squishy. Thus, the minute a hermit crab molts into an adult, it sets out to find a shell in which to live.

To get into the shell, the hermit crab squeezes in backwards, securing itself with its four back legs. The back legs have hooks that anchor the hermit crab into the shell without difficulty. The next four legs are used for walking, while the front two are its chelipeds. The chelipeds are not equal in size: one is big and other is small. The larger one is used for grabbing prey and guarding the entrance to its shell. All together, hermit crabs have a total of ten legs, including the chelipeds and the rear legs used to anchor to the shell.

There are about 500 different species of hermit crabs around the world, and they have different colors, often with patterns like stripes and dots on their bodies. Most hermit crab species live on the ocean floor, but many live on land. Female terrestrial (land based) hermit crabs must return to the sea to breed.

Hermit crabs are omnivores (eating plants and animals) and scavengers (eating dead animals that they find). They eat worms, plankton, and organic debris.

At Santa Teresa you can find thousands of hermit crabs.  These small creatures are all over the beach, feeding mostly from fallen coconuts and even other crabs! Although one sad thing about them is to see them with plastic caps due to the ocean´s plastic pollution.  This is one of the reasons why Latitude 10 is so focused on beach cleanups, to prevent these things happening to the area’s wildlife, a direct correlation to human’s irresponsible actions.  Every time you see a plastic cap on the beach, think about the hermit crabs and pick it up! One single action makes a big difference in the world.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEPCYa879ZI&feature=related