Re: Who's that crab? Anomuran IDs... for what? 9/30/09
<Hello, Melissa and Kevin - Lynn here this afternoon.>
You guys are always helpful, and awesome!
<On behalf of Bob and crew, I thank you!>
So, I figured I'd give it a try to see if you could help me figure out what kind of LARGE crab this is. We got him about four years ago from PetCo. Of course, labeled "hermit crab - Saltwater"
<Yep, that sort of generality is cause to run to your trusty research book or internet site(s) before buying, to make sure the animal will be a good/safe addition for your system.>
..and after asking them about him, they were as helpful as expected....which is to say not at all and called him a general hermit crab that sometimes but rarely came in shipment.
<I’d love to know where those shipments were from!>
Anyway, the aptly named "Blue Crab" lived happily for a while but due to some unfortunate accident, he died. We've been looking for another one ever since!
<I’d keep checking Petco, in hopes that they’re still getting shipments from the same area. Perhaps another such hermit will show up.>
He was about 2.5-3 inches in size. Blue, with white eye stalks with yellow tips, and black eyeballs. Yellow antennae, and white fuzz on his blue legs and claws. (See photo if I attached properly.)
<Very pretty! I’ve looked all over, but the closest I can get to an ID is what Bob already mentioned, Dardanus lagopodes. Usually, these hermits are a mottled maroon/red/brown and white, but I’ve read reports of color variants. Perhaps this is one. If you wish to look further I’d recommend trying a few internet image search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) using the genus name: Dardanus.>
As a bonus, we also used to have a very LARGE hermit crab (Gomez) who was dark pinto green, with thin red/brown accents. Smooth, not fuzzy, with thick, but not giant claws. This guy got about 3.5-4 inches before he died. We don't know what kind of hermit he was either!
<I’m sorry to say that I don’t either. I can’t quite see enough detail to be of much assistance. For instance, are the claws of equal in size, or different? Hermits in the family Diogenidae tend to have a larger left claw relative to the right, while those in Paguridae tend to have a larger right claw than left. If you remember, or have other photos that show this, perhaps you could search according to family, then narrow things from there.>
We've asked fish dealers and hobbyists, and pet stores and no one seems to know anything much about large hermits, except for the most popular kind.
<Well, there are a lot of them out there!>
Please help...and thank you! : )
<You’re very welcome, and good luck in your search!>
Melissa & Kevin
<Take care, LynnZ>

Re: Who's that crab? Anomuran IDs... for what? 9/30/09
<Hello again!>
Thank you so much!
<You’re very welcome!
The green crab had claws that were the same size, as did the blue crab!
<Gotcha>
Maybe if they had gotten bigger or older it would have varied where one was bigger?
<Well, the difference in claw sizes related to family is something that can help with an ID but it’s not a guarantee. That’s why I was careful to use the phrase “tend to” instead of “always”. The differences could be slight or not at all and on top of that, there could be other factors at play.>
Probably not, but they were super crabs. We really miss them!
<I can certainly understand that!>
Thanks again for the help.
<It was a pleasure.>
We'll keep searching!!
<Please do! If/when you do find another, please send more photos and we’ll see if we can’t figure out what you’ve got. Take care, LynnZ>

Follow-up: Re: Re: Who's that crab? Anomuran IDs... for what? 10/1/09
<Hi Melissa!>
With your and Bob's help for a start on the Latin name, we found this French site: http://users.skynet.be/fa311324/article/hermit.htm
<Ah yes, you found one of my favorites. It’s loaded with wonderful photos. Here’s another site as well: http://www.deepseaimages.com/dsilibrary/showgallery.php?cat=675
See families Diogenidae and Paguridae, starting about halfway down the page: http://www.roboastra.com/hastherm/hpherm.html>
..(Also, at the bottom there is "Phimochirus holthuisi" which says Photo credit Bob Fenner. Thought that was cute! : )
<Yes indeed, another wonderful photo!>
But about halfway down it shows "Dardanus lagopodes" which is a tiny bit more red but has the exact same eye stalks and yellow antennae as our long lost blue crab.
<I know the photo and yes, it is indeed very similar. Here are several others as well: http://www.deepseaimages.com/dsilibrary/showphoto.php?photo=7001&cat=675
http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=7270 >
So, I'd guess we would have to agree with you guys on what he was!
<It does indeed appear to be either a color variant or another species in that genus.>
He was such a vibrant blue though...I wish we could have kept him alive!
<Indeed. I found an interesting parallel on the ‘net last night after my last response. It deals with what appears to be a blue specimen of Pagurus bernhardus found off the coast of England. See this link: http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Torped56.html. It’s postulated that the color might be due to a parasite. I honestly don’t know if that’s possible or not. Have you ever seen a blue lobster? The beautiful color is apparently due to a genetic defect that can be described at the following link. It may be more than you ever wanted to know on the subject, but it’s interesting! http://srs.dl.ac.uk/Annual_Reports/AnRep01_02/pdf/08_09%20Crustacyanin.pdf >
We were soooo new to the hobby back then, and for some reason got something in our tank that killed all of our crustaceans, even the copepods.
<Aggressive hermits can do a number on their crustacean relatives, snails, and even fishes if they can grab, or catch them sleeping. As for the copepods, they may well have been reduced by various fishes you had at the time.>
Fish were fine..who knows!
<They may well have either steered clear of the hermits or slept out of reach of them!>
It's just been trial and error after trial and error for us!
<Yep, in this hobby you find out pretty quickly that research is your friend! That is, research *before* bringing home!>
Everything is healthy and thriving now and has been for a few years.
<Good to hear. I’m wondering if there isn’t a parallel between this and the lack of large hermits!>
Anyway, I think it might be the same species. Obviously there are more sites out there that show a crab that looks like him, like this: http://www.zipcodezoo.com/hp350/Dardanus_lagopodes_0.jpg But I've still yet to find one that's blue!
<Same here!>
Anyway, the PetCo in our area stopped carrying saltwater animals...and I actually think that's really good because they were always so sad, dying, or badly taken care of.
<That’s frustratingly sad to see. I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum in our area. It just depends on who’s in charge/running the section.>
Still not sure on the green crab. He grew pretty fast and so I expect he would have gotten larger. That French site has two photos of crabs labeled "Clibanarius sp"...which I assume means "Clibanarius species of some sort" *lol*
<That’s exactly what it means!>
He was really olive green but the markings on these crabs look similar, and his claws were about the same size as these look to be (of course like you said they are probably slightly different, but at a glance they look about the same size). Okay, anyway, thank you again so much!
<You’re very welcome! It’s been a learning experience for me as well and I appreciate it!>
I've been meaning to ask for years and just never got around to it.
<I’m glad you got around to it. If I ever run into a blue hermit like yours, I’ll be sure to let you know.>
You've been really sweet and helpful...Have a great week!! : )
<It was my pleasure. You have a great week as well!>
Melissa
<Take care, LynnZ>