About Paguristes cadenati Forest, 1954
Paguristes cadenati Forest, 1954, commonly called the red reef hermit crab, grows to around 3 cm (1.2 in) in length. Its limbs and chelae (pincers) are smooth and hairless, and the left chela is slightly larger than the right. Its abdomen is unarmoured, and it is hidden within a gastropod mollusc shell that provides protection. The hermit crab's overall body colour is bright red, with deep red antennae and elongated yellow or yellowish-orange eyestalks. The corneas of its eyes are yellowish-green. It can be mistaken for the similar-sized orange-claw hermit crab (Calcinus tibicen), which is generally darker in colour and has white patches near the tips of its limbs. This hermit crab is native to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea; its range covers southern Florida and the West Indies. It lives on coral reefs at depths from the intertidal zone down to around 80 m (260 ft). The red reef hermit crab is a scavenger that feeds on animal and vegetable detritus. This species has separate sexes, and breeds year-round. Its eggs are orange, and hatch into planktonic larvae. After larvae settle on the seabed, juvenile hermit crabs must search for a suitable shell to occupy. They often live in empty shells from Cerithium species and Vasum species. The red reef hermit crab is well-suited for invertebrate-friendly reef aquariums, where it eats algae including filamentous, hair, and slime algae, as well as cyanobacteria, and helps keep the tank clean.
