Biodiversity & Conservation

Hermit crab - Pagurus bernhardus

Pagurus bernhardus

Image Paul Naylor - Pagurus bernhardus on shell gravel. Image width ca 8 cm.
Image copyright information

  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
  • #
Distribution map

Pagurus bernhardus recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

Sightings Have you seen Pagurus bernhardus?
If so please submit your record.

Pagurus bernhardus is not listed under any importance categories.

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy Taxon English term
Phylum Arthropoda Arthropods, joint-legged animals, e.g. insects, crustaceans & spiders
Class Malacostraca Crabs, lobsters, sand hoppers and sea slaters
Authority Linnaeus, 1758
Recent synonyms None
Map icon Recorded Distribution in Britain and Ireland All British and Irish coasts.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found on rocky and sandy substrata from mean tide level to 140 m.
Text page icon Description A large hermit crab with a carapace length that reaches 35mm. It is reddish in colour and will occupy any suitable shell such as Buccinum undatum. Both pincers are covered with thick, pointed protrusions, the massive right pincer has two rows of large protrusions and is devoid of bristles.
Identifying features
  • Carapace with sharply pointed rostrum.
  • Chelipeds covered with uniformly distributed granules or small teeth.
  • Propodus of right chela with two rows of larger granulations, starting at the base and converging towards the middle.
Additional information icon Additional information No text entered

This review can be cited as follows:

Emily Wilson 2007. Pagurus bernhardus. Hermit crab. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 24/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesinformation.php?speciesID=4013>