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Red Hermit Crab
Aniculus aniculus
Aniculus aniculus, the red hermit crab or scaly-legged hermit crab, is a species of aquatic hermit crab of the family Diogenidae. It is distributed across French Polynesia in the Gambier, Marquesas, Society, and Tuamotu archipelagoes. It has also been recorded in the Mozambique Channel and around Mauritius. Of the species in the genus Aniculus, only it and A. ursus are considered common. The species is the host of the parasitic isopod Parathelges aniculi, and it is one of several hermit crabs preyed upon by Nautilus macromphalus.
From the article Aniculus aniculus on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
As adults, individuals of the species grow up to 20 centimeters long. One differentiating characteristic of the species is that females possess leaf-like structures on their front three appendages that combine with a large brood-flap to create a full brood-pouch. These crabs reside within the compact shells of gastropods like Muricidae and Cerithiidae.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
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Every page naming Aniculus aniculus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 649766.