Filter feeding crab...

The animal itself is about 1/4" wide, lives in a small coral "bud" and was in a small resident population of several dozen or so crabs just like itself. When I first swam up to the coral I thought that it was a colony of barnacles until I was close enough to see the crabs. Can anyone give me some info?

Hi,

I had one of these in my aquarium. I asked for an ID a few years back and got one - I'll have to go back and do a search.

It's a sessile filter feeding hermit crab, but I can't remember the genus and species.

They are WAY cool though, huh?

Cheers

James

James is right, it's a hermit crab, called Paguritta vittata. Members of this genus have abandoned the typical hermit lifestyle of crawling around with a snail shell on the back. Inside, they have straight abdomens (other hermit crabs have curled abdomens) and live inside empty serpulid worm tubes. At least the tubes are presumed to be empty. I read a short article a whiile ago that implied the crabs may crawl into an occupied tube and the worm just stays down in the lower part of the tube. Probably not a very happy worm in that case..... The Paguritta filter food particles out of the water with their feathery antennae.