The Crusty Fossils
Carolyn C. Smith
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Give FeedbackHermit Crab (Pagurus)
The rear parts of the hermit crab are soft and there is no hard shell to protect this region. He solves this problem by finding an empty shell of a snail and backing into it to make his home. This is how it gets its name. When the shell is too small to serve its purpose the crab simply finds a bigger shell. The hermit crab is found everywhere: on sandy and muddy bottoms, in rock pools, behind sand bars, and in shallow water. Their coloring is a yellowish brown and when the body is extended it is only about 1 inch in length. A much larger species of hermit crabs is found in the deeper water from the coast of Maine extending down to coast of Florida. Some groups of people consider this crab as a delicacy when cooked in oil.