Pagurus pollicaris

(Redirected from Flat-clawed Hermit Crab)

Pagurus pollicaris is a hermit crab commonly found along the Atlantic coast of North America from New Brunswick to the Gulf of Mexico. It is known by a number of common names, including gray hermit crab,[1] flat-clawed hermit crab,[2] flatclaw hermit crab,[1] shield hermit crab,[2] thumb-clawed hermit crab,[3] broad-clawed hermit crab,[4] and warty hermit crab.[5]

Pagurus pollicaris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Paguridae
Genus: Pagurus
Species:
P. pollicaris
Binomial name
Pagurus pollicaris
Say, 1817 [1]

P. pollicaris inhabits the shells of shark eye snails and whelks.[4] It grows to a length of 31 millimetres (1.2 in) and a width of 25 mm (1.0 in).[2] The shell is often shared by the commensal zebra flatworm (Stylochus ellipticus).[2]

The diet of the flat-clawed hermit crab comprises organic matter, algae, and sometimes other hermit crabs. Fish are the most important predators of this species.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Pagurus pollicaris Say, 1817". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  2. ^ a b c d Andrew J. Martinez & Candace Storm Martinez (2003). "Flat-clawed hermit crab Pagurus pollicaris". Marine Life of the North Atlantic: Canada to New England (3rd ed.). Aqua Quest Publications. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-881652-32-8.
  3. ^ Susan B. Rothschild (2004). Beachcomber's Guide to Gulf Coast Marine Life: Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida (3rd ed.). Taylor Trade Publications. ISBN 978-1-58979-061-2.
  4. ^ a b Alice Jane Lippson & Robert L. Lippson (2006). "Intertidal flats". Life in the Chesapeake Bay (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 57–93. ISBN 978-0-8018-8338-5.
  5. ^ R. P. Cowles (1930). "A biological study of the offshore waters of Chesapeake Bay" (PDF). Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries. 46: 276–381.