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White Hermit Crab, any info?


metrokat

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I got a white hermit crab from the LFS the other day. Finally tracked down the ID

Pagurus acadianus. Picture from the web:

hermit_crab_fast_eddie.jpg

 

This guy is on crack I swear. Very fast, and a bit of an idiot too, but he's cute. He was ripping into my Chaeto before I pulled him off. Won't go on the rocks, likes to stay in the substrate (so far). Anyone have more info on them?

 

Info from a site:

Acadian Hermit Crab (Pagurus acadianus) - Most common hermit crab in New England. The 1st pair of legs have pincers with an orange stripe down the middle and are covered with tubercles. The right leg is much bigger. Color; carapace - brown,; legs - red/orange to brown,white at the base, 1st pair of antennae & eye stalks-blue; eyes-yellow. Size; carapace 1 ¼", width 1". Found on gravel, or rock bottom to 1600'.

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Builder Anthony

I havent really figured out this site yet but if you got the name right you can check around in the link i post.

 

I didnt see any pictures but theres alot of buttons so good luck.

 

I been tryen to look threw the hermit crabs at stores tryen to find a diffenrt one as well......congratulations on your find.

 

http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=t...s&id=158400

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No he's right. I have a hermit that is white and it's actually a mexican red leg crab that is a weird color morph. Mine doesn't have red eyes and has marking as well. It took me a while to ID but it's not uncommon for them to come in with other common hermit crabs.

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  • 1 year later...

Hey, any updates on this fellow? I've purchased a VERY similar hermit at manhattan aquariums this weekend, and his behavior mathes pretty much what you described. He's very fast. At the LFS I saw him pacing back and forth like a fish would, so I thought he'd be an interesting addition. When I added him to the tank I put him on some of the rocks (that's where the hermits usually like to be), but he way really unhappy there and eventually fell down on the sand (I haven't seen him climb onto the rocks since then). He seems to spend most of his time sifting the sand. I've given him some fish pellets, and he munched on them a little bit =]. Oh and I would like to add that this guy is much bigger than the usual CUC hermits. I think he's easily thice the size of my biggest scarlet hermit.

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Similar looking hermits wash up with sargassum after a strong east wind down here in southern NC. They are spazzes.

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hmmm i don't think my other hermits will bully him around. He's much bigger than my scarlet hermits, and much faster too.

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  • 3 weeks later...

SO i think this guy's status has changed to "reef-safe?"

 

I was moving stuff around, and a small bristleworm fell on top of him. He proceeded to tear that worm up and stuff him in his face!

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I have around 12-15 of these guys running around my 55gal (I collect them from the wild, Most of mine are around the size of a dime). They are great at hunting down detritus. They scurry around constantly sifting the top layer of sand. I have a moderate current flowing through my tank, and they like to bury their shells in the sand with their eyes and claws hanging out. Pretty neat to watch. They can scurry really fast too if something spooks them. The only downside I've found to keeping them as a clean up crew, is they like to pick a favorite spot, and hang out there. That would be fine, except for the fact they are semi-congregational and like one another's company. So they might end up not covering the full floor of the tank.

As far as worms go, they love them. I often come across these small neon orange worms in the sand on the shore near my house. The little guys will have an all out tug of war over them. They will devour anything that dies and sinks to the bottom, relatively fast.


I've witnessed them eating sea lettuce as well. They've left my cheato alone though. They've also shredded a condy anemone to a gooey pulp (It was sick/irritated and had basically all of its tendrils tucked inside, so they attacked the body) They pretty much like to eat other inverts that have squishy bodies from what I've seen of them.

As far as corals, leathers, and zoas go, I'm unsure; I don't currently own any...yet. I have a red tree sponge (also from the wild around here) They like to hang around it, and sometimes pick little bits of things off of it, but they haven't harmed it one bit. What small bit of bubble algae I have growing on a LR in my smaller 10 gal, I haven't seen them eat on it. I've also witnessed them munch on gracilaria sp. algae, but it doesn't seem to be their favorite.

Make sure to have plenty of shells available for them though. The ones I have, aren't really growing much, but they like to change shells frequently, and will sometimes harass each other by grabbing the other hermits shell with their small claw, and "punching" down into the shell with their large claw. Its humorous and seems to be harmless.

 

All in all, they are a good little addition to a clean up crew, if you don't mind their lack of eye popping color. They are curious and not very shy once they are acclimated and used to your tank.

 

Here's a few more pics (sorry about the algae on the side walls. lazy clean up crew)

 

Pic 1 - hanging out with shell in the substrate

Pic 2 - got curious and came to check me out

Pic 3 - on the never ending hunt for the perfect shell

 

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8N4sYc6.jpg?2mrqY3ZD.jpg?2

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Nice, thanks for the info on these guys!

 

I only have one in my 15G. I've never seen him burry into the substrate though. My guy seems to be substantially bigger; shell included he's about the size of a half dollar. He's also seems very on edge most of the time? If something startles him he'll dash to the other side of the tank in a fraction of a second. Maybe he's on edge so much cuz he's so social and he has none of his buddies around? lol

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Nice, thanks for the info on these guys!

 

I only have one in my 15G. I've never seen him burry into the substrate though. My guy seems to be substantially bigger; shell included he's about the size of a half dollar. He's also seems very on edge most of the time? If something startles him he'll dash to the other side of the tank in a fraction of a second. Maybe he's on edge so much cuz he's so social and he has none of his buddies around? lol

 

Hmm... Maybe it needs a friend or two. That could help how easily spooked it is.

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He looks a little scary to me... :S

 

Naaaah. totally harmless little guys. Almost friendly once they get used to you. Mine will sometimes come over to the glass to check me out if I hang around the tank watching them.

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  • 7 months later...

Nice, thanks for the info on these guys!

 

I only have one in my 15G. I've never seen him burry into the substrate though. My guy seems to be substantially bigger; shell included he's about the size of a half dollar. He's also seems very on edge most of the time? If something startles him he'll dash to the other side of the tank in a fraction of a second. Maybe he's on edge so much cuz he's so social and he has none of his buddies around? lol

 

Do you still have your white hermit? I picked up 4 of these from reefs2go and they are insane.. lol.. they run soo fast and one even jumped a few inches straight into the air!!! These have got to be the most entertaining of any hermit I have had.

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gah, unfortunatelly not. I started cutting down on my feedings, and my largest hermits ended up starving I think. I think the white guy was the first one to go. Looking back at it, I'd imagine the need a lot more food since they use up more energy running around the tank all day instead of just picking at one spot all the time

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