TESC BIOTA
Pagurus granosimanus (Stimpson,
1858)
Grainy Hermit Crab
Taxonomy:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Subclass: Eumalacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Paguridae
Genus: Pagurus
Species: granosimanus
Found
on
Identification: Lives in snail shell.
First pair of walking legs unequal with pincers, right one larger.
Claws covered with fine granules.
Color: Olive-brown with white or blue
speckles on pincers.
Size: 19 mm long, 16 mm wide (shell)
Range and Habitat:
Life History: Spend life looking for larger shells.
Fight other hermit crabs for shell if they can’t find one.
Comments: Pagurus granosimanus is most
common wearing a shell of the Black Turban Snail. It is often confused with the
Little Harry Hermit Crab (P. hirsutiusculus).
Links:
General Hermit Crab
Information
Suggested
Elwood, R. W. and S. J.
Neil.
1992. Assessments and
Decisions: A Study of Information Gathering by Hermit Crabs (Studies in
Behavioral Adaptation) Chapman & Hall.
Prepared by: Courtney
Hargens Spring, 2004