Monday, June 28, 2010

Little Hermit Crab


Little Hermit Crab, originally uploaded by haechoo.

Hermit crabs are decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea. They are not closely related to true crabs.

Most frequently hermit crabs use the shells of sea snails; the tip of the hermit crab's abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the snail shell. As the hermit crab grows in size, it has to find a larger shell and abandon the previous one.

This habit of living in a second hand shell gives rise to the popular name "hermit crab", by analogy to a hermit who lives alone.

- Wikipedia

No comments: