''Paguristes cadenati'', the red reef hermit crab or scarlet hermit crab, is a small (about across)
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
hermit crab
Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an a ...
with a bright red body and yellow eyestalks that lives in the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
. The
specific name honours the
French ichthyologist
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...
Jean Cadenat Jean Cadenat (born Marmande, Lot-et-Garonne 16 April 1908, died Marmande 28 June 1992) was a French ichthyologist.
In 1930, he joined the Agricultural Zoology station at La Grand Ferrade as an assistant preparator and the following year he complete ...
(1908-1992), who collected the
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
and sent it to the French
carcinologist
A carcinologist is a scientist who studies crustaceans or is otherwise involved in carcinology
Carcinology is a branch of zoology that consists of the study of crustaceans, a group of arthropods that includes lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, ...
Jacques Forest
Jacques Forest (14 June 1920 – 16 February 2012) was a French carcinologist.
Biography
Born in Créteil on 14 June 1920, Jacques Forest grew up in Maubeuge. He served in the army for a year during the Second World War, and went on to study a ...
, who
described it as a new species.
[
]
Description
The red reef hermit crab grows to a length of about . The limbs and chelae
A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer (biology), pincer-like organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through New Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are ...
(pincers) are smooth and hairless, and the left chela is slightly larger than the right one; the abdomen is unarmoured and is concealed in the recesses of the gastropod
The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...
mollusc
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
shell that protects it. The general colour of this hermit crab is bright red with the exception of the antennae, which are deep red, and the elongated eyestalks, which are yellow or yellowish-orange. The corneas of the eyes are yellowish-green. It could be confused with the orange-claw hermit crab (''Calcinus tibicen'') which is similar in size, but that species is generally darker in colour and has white patches near the tips of its limbs.[
]
Distribution and habitat
This hermit crab is native to the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
and the Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
, its range including southern Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
. It occurs on coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
Co ...
s at depths ranging from the intertidal zone
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...
down to about .[
]
Ecology
The red reef hermit crab is a scavenger
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding b ...
, feeding on animal and vegetable detritus
In biology, detritus () is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts commun ...
. The sexes are separate in this species and it breeds throughout the year. The eggs are orange and hatch into plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...
ic larvae. When these settle on the seabed, the juvenile hermit crabs need to search for a suitable shell to occupy. They often inhabit the empty shells of ''Cerithium
''Cerithium'' is a genus of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Cerithiidae, the ceriths.Gofas, S. (2011). Cerithium Bruguière, 1789. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marines ...
'' species and ''Vasum
''Vasum'', common name the vase snails or vase shells, is a genus of mostly rather large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks within the family Turbinellidae.Bouchet, P. (2011). Vasum Röding, 1798. Accessed through: World Register of ...
'' species.[
This hermit crab is suitable for inclusion in an invertebrate-friendly ]reef aquarium
A reef aquarium or reef tank is a marine aquarium that prominently displays live corals and other marine invertebrates as well as fish that play a role in maintaining the tropical coral reef environment. A reef aquarium requires appropriately ...
where it consumes algae, including filamentous, hair, and slime algae, as well as cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blu ...
and is useful in keeping the tank clean.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paguristes Cadenati
Hermit crabs
Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean
Crustaceans described in 1954