Pagurus armatus

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Pagurus armatus
Black Eyed Hermit Crab 20210114 111707 2-7.jpg
Scientific classification
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P. armatus
Binomial name
Pagurus armatus
(Dana, 1851)
Synonyms   [1]

Bernhardus armatusDana, 1851

Pagurus armatus, the armed hermit crab [2] or black-eyed hermit crab, [3] is a species of hermit crab found in the eastern Pacific Ocean [4] of the United States and British Columbia, Canada. [5]

Contents

Description

Pagurus armatus.jpg

P. armatus is one of the largest species of hermit crab: [3] adults may reach a carapace length of 43 mm (1.7 in). [6] The legs, including the claws, have bands of colour, in red, orange and white, and the claws bear short spines on the dorsal surface. [6] The eyestalks are short, but bear large black compound eyes. [6] P. armatus can be told apart from the similar P. ochotensis by the spines on its claws, which in P. ochotensis are replaced by granules. The two species are so similar that they have sometimes been considered members of the same species, but are now generally thought to be two distinct species. [1]

Ecology

P. armatus lives on a variety of substrates, being particularly abundant in sea pen beds, at depths of up to 117 m (384 ft) [6]

Type specimen

P. armatus was originally described (under the name Bernhardus armatus) from Puget Sound by James Dwight Dana. The holotype of P. armatus was lost in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and has been replaced with a lectotype. [1]

Related Research Articles

Crab Infraorder of crustaceans

Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the world's oceans, in fresh water, and on land, are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and have a single pair of pincers. Many other animals with similar names – such as hermit crabs, king crabs, porcelain crabs, horseshoe crabs, and crab lice – are not true crabs, but many have evolved features similar to true crabs in a process of carcinisation.

<i>Cancer pagurus</i> species of crustacean

Cancer pagurus, commonly known as the edible crab or brown crab, is a species of crab found in the North Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and perhaps the Mediterranean Sea. It is a robust crab of a reddish-brown colour, having an oval carapace with a characteristic "pie crust" edge and black tips to the claws. A mature adult may have a carapace width up to 25 cm (10 in) and weigh up to 3 kg (6.6 lb). C. pagurus is a nocturnal predator, targeting a range of molluscs and crustaceans. It is the subject of the largest crab fishery in Western Europe, centred on the coasts of the British Isles, with more than 60,000 tonnes caught annually.

<i>Pagurus bernhardus</i> Species of crustacean

Pagurus bernhardus is the common marine hermit crab of Europe's Atlantic coasts. It is sometimes referred to as the common hermit crab or soldier crab. Its carapace reaches 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) long, and is found in both rocky and sandy areas, from the Arctic waters of Iceland, Svalbard and Russia as far south as southern Portugal, but its range does not extend as far as the Mediterranean Sea. It can be found in pools on the upper shore and at the mean tide level down to a depth of approximately 140 metres (460 ft), with smaller specimens generally found in rock pools around the middle shore and lower shore regions, with larger individuals at depth. P. bernhardus is an omnivorous detritivore that opportunistically scavenges for carrion, and which can also filter feed when necessary.

<i>Pagurus longicarpus</i> Species of crustacean

Pagurus longicarpus, the long-wristed hermit crab, is a common hermit crab found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States and the Atlantic coast of Canada.

Hydractinia echinata

Hydractinia echinata is a colonial marine hydroid which is often found growing on dead, hermit-crabbed shells of marine gastropod species. This hydroid species is also commonly known as snail fur, a name which refers to the furry appearance that the hydroids give to a shell.

<i>Pagurus</i> Genus of crustaceans

Pagurus is a genus of hermit crabs in the family Paguridae. Like other hermit crabs, their abdomen is not calcified and they use snail shells as protection. These marine decapod crustaceans are omnivorous, but mostly prey on small animals and scavenge carrion. Trigonocheirus and Pagurixus used to be considered subgenera of Pagurus, but the former is nowadays included in Orthopagurus, while the latter has been separated as a distinct genus.

<i>Pagurus novizealandiae</i> Species of crustacean

Pagurus novizealandiae, or the New Zealand hermit crab is a hermit crab of the family Paguridae, endemic to New Zealand. Its body is up to 16 millimetres (0.63 in) wide.

<i>Eriphia verrucosa</i> Species of crab

Eriphia verrucosa, sometimes called the warty crab or yellow crab, is a species of crab found in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean from Brittany to Mauritania and the Azores. Individual crabs have been caught as far north as Cornwall. Formerly a frequent species in the Black Sea, it has decreased in numbers since the 1980s and is now listed in the Ukrainian Red Data Book of endangered species.

<i>Diogenes pugilator</i> Species of crustacean

Diogenes pugilator is a species of hermit crab, sometimes called the small hermit crab or south-claw hermit crab. It is found from the coast of Angola to as far north as the North Sea, and eastwards through the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Red Sea. Populations of D. pugilator may be kept in check by the predatory crab Liocarcinus depurator.

<i>Dardanus pedunculatus</i> Species of crustacean

Dardanus pedunculatus, the anemone hermit crab, is a species of hermit crab from the Indo-Pacific region. It lives at depths of up to 27 m and collects sea anemones to place on its shell for defence.

<i>Calliactis parasitica</i>

Calliactis parasitica is a species of sea anemone associated with hermit crabs. It lives in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea at depths between the intertidal zone and 60 m (200 ft). It is up to 10 cm × 8 cm in size, with up to 700 tentacles, and is very variable in colour. The relationship between C. parasitica and the hermit crab is mutualistic: the sea anemone protects the hermit crab with its stings, and benefits from the food thrown up by the hermit crab's movements.

<i>Ophiocomina nigra</i> Species of echinoderm

Ophiocomina nigra, commonly known as the black brittle star or black serpent star, is a species of marine invertebrate in the order Ophiurida. It occurs in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

<i>Pagurus prideaux</i> Species of crustacean

Pagurus prideaux is a species of hermit crab in the family Paguridae. It is found in shallow waters off the northwest coast of Europe and usually lives symbiotically with the sea anemone Adamsia palliata.

<i>Pleurobrachia pileus</i>

Pleurobrachia pileus is a species of comb jelly, commonly known as a sea gooseberry. It is found in open water in the northern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, and was first described by the Danish zoologist Otto Friedrich Müller in 1776.

Pagurus forbesii is a species of hermit crab in the family Paguridae. It is found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

<i>Pagurus acadianus</i> Species of crustacean

Pagurus acadianus, the Acadian hermit crab, is a species of hermit crab in the family Paguridae. It is found in Western Atlantic Ocean.

<i>Neanthes fucata</i> Species of annelid worm

Neanthes fucata is a species of marine polychaete worm in the family Nereididae. It lives in association with a hermit crab such as Pagurus bernhardus. It occurs in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

<i>Labidochirus splendescens</i> Species of crustacean

Labidochirus splendescens, commonly known as the splendid hermit crab, is a species of hermit crab found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America. It is more heavily calcified and inhabits smaller mollusc shells than most hermit crabs.

<i>Pagurus dalli</i> Species of crustacean

Pagurus dalli, commonly known as the whiteknee hermit, is a species of hermit crab in the family Paguridae. It is found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean at depths down to about 276 m (900 ft). It usually lives in a mutualistic symbiosis with a sponge, or sometimes a hydroid.

<i>Clistosaccus</i> Genus of barnacles

Clistosaccus is a genus of barnacles which are parasitic on hermit crabs. It is a monotypic genus, and the single species is Clistosaccus paguri, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and the northern Pacific Ocean.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Christopher B. Boyko & Alan W. Harvey (1998). "Bernhardus (= Pagurus) armatus Dana, 1851 (Decapoda, Anomura): replacement of the neotype by a rediscovered syntype". Crustaceana . 71 (5): 587–589. doi:10.1163/156854098X00464.
  2. "Pagurus armatus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  3. 1 2 Ellie Halcrow. "The Hermit Crab". OceanLink. Retrieved March 31, 2009.
  4. Marianne Pan. "Pagurus armatus". SeaLifeBase . Retrieved March 31, 2009.
  5. "Discover Life map of Pagurus armatus" . Retrieved March 31, 2009.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Pagurus armatus (armed hermit)". Zipcode Zoo. September 17, 2008.