Hermit Crabs

Paguroidea Latreille 1802

JAMSTEC cc-by-nc-4.0

Paguroidea (Hermit Crabs) is a superfamily of decapods. There are 1099 species of Hermit Crabs, in 117 genera and 5 families. It includes groups like Diogenidae, Land Hermits, and Deepwater Hermit Crabs. They rely on drag powered swimming to move around.

URI: https://eol.org/schema/terms/drag_based_swimming
Definition: Drag swimmers use a cyclic motion where they push water back in a power stroke, and return their limb forward in the return or recovery stroke. When they push water directly backwards, this moves their body forward, but as they return their limbs to the starting position, they push water forward, which will thus pull them back to some degree, and so opposes the direction that the body is heading. This opposing force is called drag. The return-stroke drag causes drag swimmers to employ different strategies than lift swimmers. Reducing drag on the return stroke is essential for optimizing efficiency.

show all records

EOL has data for 16 attributes, including:

cellularity
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001992
- Definition: An organismal quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearers consisting cells. [ PATOC:GVG ]
show all records
multicellular
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001993
- Definition: A cellularity quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearers consisting of more than one cell. [ PATOC:GVG ]
show all records
known marine species
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/DescribedAcceptedSpecies
- Definition: number of currently described and taxonomically accepted marine species in this clade (Appeltans et al. 2012. The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity. Current Biology 22, 2189–2202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.036)
show all records
1106
ecomorphological guild
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/EcomorphologicalGuild
- Definition: organisms that share certain morphological traits due to adaptation to similar environments and ecological roles
show all records
planktonic
- URI: http://www.marinespecies.org/traits/Plankton
- Definition: Living in the fluid medium (water or air) but unable to maintain their position or distribution independently of the movement of the water/air mass (adapted from Lincoln et al., 1998).
- Attribution: http://www.marinespecies.org/traits/wiki/Traits:Plankton
show all records
habitat
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_0002303
- Definition: x has habitat y if: x is an organism, y is a habitat, and y can sustain and allow the growth of a population of x
show all records
intertidal zone
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000316
- Definition: The area of the foreshore and seabed that is exposed to the air at low tide and submerged at high tide, i.e., the area between tide marks.
show all records
habitat
- URI: http://rs.tdwg.org/dwc/terms/habitat
- Definition: A category or description of the habitat in which the Event occurred.
- Comment: Example: "oak savanna", "pre-cordilleran steppe"
show all records
marine benthic
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_01000024
- Definition: The marine benthic biome (benthic meaning 'bottom') encompasses the seafloor and includes such areas as shores, littoral or intertidal areas, marine coral reefs, and the deep seabed.
show all records
locomotion
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GO_0040011
- Definition: Self-propelled movement of a cell or organism from one location to another.
- Attribution: [database_cross_reference: GOC:dgh]
show all records
drag powered swimming
- URI: https://eol.org/schema/terms/drag_based_swimming
- Definition: Drag swimmers use a cyclic motion where they push water back in a power stroke, and return their limb forward in the return or recovery stroke. When they push water directly backwards, this moves their body forward, but as they return their limbs to the starting position, they push water forward, which will thus pull them back to some degree, and so opposes the direction that the body is heading. This opposing force is called drag. The return-stroke drag causes drag swimmers to employ different strategies than lift swimmers. Reducing drag on the return stroke is essential for optimizing efficiency.
show all records
mineralized skeleton contains
- URI: https://eol.org/schema/terms/mineralizedSkeletonContains
- Definition: Component found in mineralized skeletal tissue, (a specialized form of biogenic tissue in which the extracellular matrix is mineralized, and which functions in mechanical and structural support.)
show all records
calcium phosphate
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/CHEBI_77635
- Definition: A calcium salt composed of calcium and phosphate/diphosohate ions; present in milk and used for the mineralisation of calcified tissues.
show all records
motility
- URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q33596
- Definition: ability to move spontaneously and actively, consuming energy in the process
show all records
actively mobile
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/activelyMobile
- Definition: uses self-propelled locomotion to change location on a regular basis
show all records
supporting structures and enclosures
- URI: http://www.marinespecies.org/traits/SupportingStructuresEnclosures
- Definition: Hard framework, internal or external, which supports and protects softer parts of plant, animal or unicellular organism, and to which muscles usually attach in animals, includes skeletons (derived from Lawrence, 2005).
- Attribution: http://www.marinespecies.org/traits/wiki/Traits:SupportingStructuresEnclosures Lawrence, E. (ed.) (2005) Henderson's dictionary of Biology (13th edition). London, United Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited.
show all records
exoskeleton
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/UBERON_0006611
- Definition: Exoskeleton or shell, including those of mollusks, turtles, insects and crustaceans
show all records
undescribed marine species present in museum collections
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/UndescribedSpeciesInMuseumCollections
- Definition: "marine species in this clade which are currently represented in specimen collections (estimate) (Appeltans et al. 2012. The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity. Current Biology 22, 2189–2202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.036)"
show all records
200
visual system
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/UBERON_0002104
- Definition: The sensory system subserving the sense of vision.
show all records
compound eyes
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/UBERON_0000018
- Definition: A light sensing organ composed of multiple ommatidia, visual units consisting of a limited number of rhabdomeric photoreceptor cells, cornea-secreting epithelial cells, interommatidial pigment cells, and sometimes crystalline cone cells
show all records

Known occurrences, collected specimens and observations of Hermit Crabs. View this species on GBIF

JAMSTEC cc-by-nc-4.0

Hermit Crabs includes 5 children: