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Prideaux's Hermit Crab
Pagurus prideaux
A temperate marine hermit crab famous for its obligate symbiotic relationship with the cloak anemone Adamsia palliata, which wraps around and expands the shell as the crab grows.
Class:Malacostraca
Order:Decapoda
Family:Paguridae
Genus:Pagurus
Species:Pagurus prideaux
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Water Temperature
12 - 20 °C
pH Value
8.1 - 8.4
Water type
Marine
Adult size
1.55 cm
Minimum group
>= 1
KH
8 - 12 dKH
Species description
Geographical Origin and Habitat: Found in the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea, and the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Norway down to the Cape Verde islands and West Africa. It lives on sandy, muddy, or gravelly sea floors from shallow waters down to depths of 60 to 100 meters.
Taxonomy: Belongs to the class Malacostraca, order Decapoda, family Paguridae, and genus Pagurus. Scientifically described by Leach in 1815. It is renowned for its mutualistic symbiosis with the sea anemone Adamsia palliata (commonly known as the cloak anemone).
Social Behavior: Highly active and peaceful. It exhibits a remarkable mutualistic partnership with its anemone. The anemone attaches to the crab's shell, wrapping its body around it. In return for transportation and access to food scraps, the anemone provides protection with its stinging cells (nematocysts).
Coloration and Sexual Dimorphism: The body is pale yellowish, orange, or muddy red with lighter patches. The right claw is slightly larger than the left. Sexual dimorphism is not prominent externally; sex is determined by the location of the gonopores on the coxae of the legs.
Care, breeding and tankmates
Tank Setup: Requires a temperate or coldwater marine aquarium of at least 100 liters (25 gallons). The bottom must be covered with fine sand or smooth gravel to replicate their natural foraging grounds. Sturdy rocks can be added, but leave plenty of open floor space.
Diet and Feeding: Omnivorous scavenger. Accepts sinking pellets, chopped seafood (shrimp, mussels, fish), and frozen foods. The symbiotic anemone feeds on scraps released during the crab's feeding, but can be target-fed with small pieces of food using a pipette.
Water Quality: Requires cool water temperatures, ideally between 15°C and 20°C (59-68°F); a chiller is highly recommended for summer months. Maintain salinity at SG 1.024-1.026, pH 8.1-8.4, and ensure high oxygen levels through strong water movement.
Compatibility and Tankmates: Best kept in a specialized temperate reef or coldwater tank. Compatible with other peaceful coldwater fish and mobile invertebrates. Stinging tentacles of the associated anemone may harm delicate corals if the crab brushes past them.
Aquarium Breeding: Not recorded in captivity. Like most marine crabs, they release planktonic larvae that require specific micro-currents and live phytoplankton/zooplankton feeds that are typically cleared by home aquarium filters.
Risks and Diseases: Temperature spikes (above 22°C/72°F) are the most critical risk, leading to the death of both the crab and the anemone. Extremely sensitive to copper treatments. If the anemone dies, the hermit crab loses its primary protection.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Found in the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea, and the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Norway down to the Cape Verde islands and West Africa. It lives on sandy, muddy, or gravelly sea floors from shallow waters down to depths of 60 to 100 meters.
Origin
Tropical oceans and reefsAfrica and MadagascarEurope, Mediterranean, and West AsiaEast Asia
Invertebrate profile
- Diet
- No verified data available
- Ecological role
- No verified data available
- Life expectancy
- No verified data available
- Adult size
- 1.55 cm
- Jump risk
- No verified data available
- Shock sensitivity
- No verified data available
- Calcium and minerals
- No verified data available
- Molting
- No verified data available
- Reproduction
- No verified data available
- Compatibility & tankmates
- No verified data available
The catalog's scalar value is 1.55 cm. The MOBS marine organism body-size database source reports a maximum adult measurement of 1.55 cm for this species, recorded as the dataset's reported length dimension. These figures are not interchangeable: the first is the profile's editorial reference, whereas the second is a published maximum under a specific measurement convention; differences among sources can reflect sex, population, life stage and measuring method.
Image gallery
Licensed images linked to the species or, when marked, to the closest representative taxon.
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