Identifying crab species can be tough for a new hermit crab enthusiast because almost all of the hermit crabs look the same. Not really, there are over 800 different species (land and marine combined) and new species are still being discovered. Land hermit crabs are more popular than marine hermit crabs and different land hermit crab species have different habitats, sizes, colors, and textures. So once you know that you’ll be easily identify them. You can also decide which crab to buy.
Caribbean hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus)
Coenobita clypeatus is one of the two most popular hermit crab species also referred to as Caribbean hermit crab, purple pincher, West Atlantic crab, and tree crab. This crab can be found under the roots of a tree, climbing on a tree and in coastal areas in the West Atlantic, West Indies, Belize and southern Florida.
The availability of this crab makes it the most common hermit crab and the longer lifespan (30 to 40 in the wild and up to 12 in captivity) makes hermit crab enthusiasts choose this in the first place.
Ecuadorian hermit crab (Coenobita compressus)
Coenobita compressus commonly known as the Ecuadorian hermit crab and Pacific hermit crab is another popular species of terrestrial hermit crab. They are native to the vast area of the Americas, from Mexico and Chile.
They vary with different shades of dark gray, orange and yellow in color. Ecuadorians are also top on the choice list for their longer lifespan over 30 years. They usually prefer shells with a D-shaped opening and are known as playful stumbling creatures as they love to climb and crawl around.
Strawberry hermit crab (Coenobita perlatus)
The strawberry hermit crab is one of the largest land hermit crabs (can grow from 3 to 6 inches in height) species known for their distinctive color and texture that resembles a strawberry. They vary with different shades of orange and whitish orange and can live up to 4 years and do not reproduce in captivity like most of the hermit crab species.
An interesting fact is this is one of the most active hermit crab species that can travel several miles in a night. However, mimicking their natural habitat condition in captivity can be very expensive. For example, even in an ideal condition, they can live up to 4 years where their lifespan is 25 to 30 years in the wild.
Blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita pupureus)
Coenobita pupureus, Japanese or Okinawa blueberry hermit commonly known as blueberry hermit crab is a species that can be found in a very short range of areas; oceanic and Continental Island coasts only in Japan. They are usually blue with red antennae resembling the color of blueberry.
The sad part is they are the victim of the ornamental pet industry and are protected from exporting as they are endangered. Due to their unavailability, they are very rare to find outside of Japan. So, unless you live in Japan you may not be able to get this species.
Ruggie hermit crab (Coenobita rugosus)
Coenobita rugosus or ruggie hermit crab also known as tawny hermit crab is a beautiful species of land hermit crab (originated from the Indian Ocean and Nias Island) known for their variety of colors (depending on what nutrition they get) black, green, brown, white, blue and ten. This is an easy to identify crab; you can differentiate them by looking at the stitches mark on their pincer.
They can be found in dunes, sandy areas, and mangroves in a wide range of Southeast Asia from Malaysia, Philippines, China, Indonesia and Sri Lanka to Japan.
Indonesian hermit crab (Coenobita brevimanus)
Coenobita brevimanus commonly known as Indonesian or Indo hermit crab is not common as pets compared to other hermit crab species. They can be found mainly in East Africa, Indonesia, Japan, China, Malaysia and Taiwan. But now they can also be found in other countries. Their color is purplish and brownish-red.
The Indonesian hermit crab is the biggest terrestrial common pet hermit crab that can grow up to 8 inches but in captivity, they can only get up to 3 inches.
Passion fruit hermit crab (Coenobita cavipes)
Coenobita cavipes also known as passion fruit hermit crab is a terrestrial hermit crab discovered in 1858 that can commonly be found in Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines. They need more access to the sea compared to other terrestrial hermit crab species meaning they always prefer living near shore in the early stage of life and do not prefer living near the shore as they get old. Instead, they frequently visit the shore and they prefer turbo or round opening shells.
Cannibalism can be seen in their natural habitat possible reasons could be hierarchy or completion of resources. A research shows that in mangrove forests their popular source of food is human feces which occurs due to overpopulation.
Viola hermit crab (Coenobita violascens)
Viola hermit crab is an uncommon species of hermit crab that you can keep in your collection. Coenobita violascens also known as Sunset Viola, Chocolate Sunset Viola, and Komurasaki land hermit crab is a species native to Thailand, Philippines, Tanzania, Indonesia, and more. They can be found in the mangrove estuaries. The young prefer mangrove forests, while adults explore beaches.
They are orange, red and brown in juvenile but as they grow up they turn violet or blue which is interesting to see.
Most of the land hermit crabs belong to the Coenobitidae family. These crabs have modified gills so that they can breathe air and the gills need to be moistened always or dry gill can cause serious health issues. That’s why they always live near the shore and humid areas where they can moist their gills frequently. They also carry water in the shell for moistening purposes it helps a lot while traveling or hiding from predators for a long time and also they throw the water to the predators to scare them. However, though they are crabs (not true crabs) they can be drowned.
