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hermit crab
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Hermit crab Pagurus samuelis with reddish legs and claws, peeking out from a spiral shell while resting on sand.
See a hermit crab walking through the rocks
A hermit crab, Coenobita species, with bright orange legs emerging from a large spiral shell on sandy ground.
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Hermit crab Pagurus samuelis with reddish legs and claws, peeking out from a spiral shell while resting on sand.
hermit crab Hermit crab (Pagurus samuelis).

hermit crab

crustacean
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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hermit crab, any crab of the families Paguridae and Coenobitidae (order Decapoda of the class Crustacea). These crabs use empty snail shells (e.g., whelk or periwinkle) or other hollow objects as a shelter for partial containment and protection of the body. Their bodies lack a hard protected carapace; without a shell they are extremely vulnerable to predators. Hermit crabs, worldwide in distribution, occur in sandy- or muddy-bottomed marine waters and occasionally on land and in...

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