Pagurus pollicaris
Species of crustacean
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
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| Pagurus pollicaris | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Anomura |
| Family: | Paguridae |
| Genus: | Pagurus |
| Species: | P. pollicaris |
| Binomial name | |
| Pagurus pollicaris | |
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 crab is a pale off-white with unevenly sized, broad, flat claws that can lock together to act as an operculum when the crab withdraws into its shell.[6] 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.