The big hairy hermit crab of the reef, ten centimeters (4 in) with green eyes and a coat of red-brown bristles, hauling a heavy snail shell around at night.
It decorates. Hermit crabs of this genus pick up sea anemones and plant them on their own shells - lifting them off the rock with the claws, working them loose without triggering a sting, and pressing them onto the shell where they attach and stay. A crab may carry several. The anemones get transport and scraps from the crab's meals; the crab gets a shell covered in stinging cells, which discourages octopus.
When it moves to a bigger shell it takes the anemones with it, detaching them and replanting them on the new one - which is a deliberate multi-step act with no instinctive shortcut available.
By day it hides under rubble and in crevices; at night it works the bottom for carrion, algae and anything soft. The oversized left claw seals the shell when it withdraws.
- large hermit crab covered in dense red-brown hair, with green eyes
- left claw larger than the right
- often carrying anemones on its shell
- length up to 10 cm
