Pagurus pollicaris

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Pagurus pollicaris
Pagurus pollicaris KSP 082014 (15652726196).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Paguridae
Genus: Pagurus
Species:
P. pollicaris
Binomial name
Pagurus pollicaris
Say, 1817  [1]

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]

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.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Pagurus pollicaris Say, 1817". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  2. 1 2 3 4 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. 1 2 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.