White-spotted Hermit Crab

Dardanus megistos can reach a body length of about 20 cm (7.9 in). These large crabs have a bright red body with small white eyespots surrounded by black. Their bodies are covered with long erect coarse hairs of a dark red color. They have a pair of long white primary antennae or antennules, a pair of secondary antennae, stalked green brown eyes and three pairs of mouth appendages. The stalks of the eyes are reddish with a basal white spot. The soft, asymmetrical abdomen is spiral-shaped, useful in keeping in the shell, with a five-piece tail (telson and uropods). Like all decapod crustaceans, they have ten legs. The first pair of legs carries the pincers ( chelipeds). The left plier is bigger than the right one.

This species is present in the Indo-Pacific region from East Africa to the South China Sea, Australia and east to Hawaii.

The genus name Dardanus refers to the son of Zeus and Electra in Greek mythology, while the species name megistos is the superlative of the Greek word mega, therefore it means the largest.