About Calcinus seurati Forest, 1951
Calcinus seurati Forest, 1951, commonly called the whitebanded hermit crab, has a distinctive vibrant appearance. The shells it occupies usually have decorative patterns such as spots and bands. Its walking legs have black and white bands, while its claws are either light or dark gray. This is a small to medium-sized hermit crab species that reaches a maximum length of 2 inches (51 mm). It is omnivorous, and feeds on a wide range of both plant and animal material. This species displays phototaxis, which may be a strategy it uses to avoid predators. The whitebanded hermit crab occurs mainly in tropical areas of the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan, Hawaii, Guam, French Polynesia, and the Tuamotu Islands. It lives in a variety of coastal habitats, including the subtidal, sublittoral, infralittoral zones, and high intertidal pools. It is usually found in calm, warm water, most often in rocky pools near the waterline, and can occur at depths down to 5 meters (16 feet).
