Red Reef Hermit Crab

Paguristes cadenati

Red Reef Hermit Crab

Paguristes cadenati
Other Common Names
Scarlet hermit crab, Red legged hermit crab
Other Common Names
Scarlet hermit crab, Red legged hermit crab

At the Aquarium

Connected Coasts

Appearance

Around 1 inch in length. Bold red legs and orange eye stalks. While close in size, the left claw is larger than the right.

Habitat

Shallow reefs

Diet

Detritivore. Eats debris from plants and animals off of the sea floor.

Life History

Beginning their lives as plankton, the red reef hermit crab hatches out of its egg and becomes a free floating larva. As it matures, the larvae settle to the seafloor where it then crawls across the ground.

IUCN Status

Not Evaluated

Ecosystem & Cultural Importance

As detritivores, red reef crabs eat many of the small scraps of organic matter on the sea floor. When they are eventually eaten, it allows the nutrients of the ocean’s debris to be recycled back into the food chain.
Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea
This animal is not native to the Oregon Coast, however is found in the larger Pacific Ocean. It lives in the Aquarium as part of our Connected Coasts gallery.
The red reef hermit crab was on a 1985 Barbados stamp!

Citations & Other Resources