Left-clawed Hermit Crab, Dardanus sinistripes

Left-clawed Hermit Crab, Dardanus sinistripes. Provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, February 2013.  Length: 9.0 cm (3.5 inches). It had taken over a 7.6 cm (3.0 inch) Panama Harp Shell, Harpa crenata.

General information: The Left-clawed Hermit Crab, Dardanus sinistripes, is a decapod and member of the Diogenidae Family, a family of hermit crabs, also known as “left handed hermit crabs” because they in contrast to most other hermit crabs have left claws that are bigger than the right claw. In Mexico they are known as ermitaño zurdo. They are also known as the Anemone-carrier Hermit Crab, a name derived from the attachment of the Hitch-Hiker Anemone, Calliactis polypus, to the shell occupied by this Hermit Crab, and the two have a complex behavioral relationship.

Identification: The Left-clawed Hermit Crab has pink legs and claws and is irregularly banded with red. The tips of the claws are bright red and grooved. The hairs on the body and appendages are tan, tipped with white. They have elongated shells with soft abdomens, stout eye stalks, and antennae with long flagellum (the end portion). The Left Clawed Hermit Crab are very common and one of the largest species of hermit crabs reaching a maximum of 9.0 cm (3.5 inches) in length and 2.8 cm (1.1 inches) in width.

Habitat and Range: Left-clawed Hermit Crabs are found in sand rubble and among rocks within the low intertidal to subtidal zones at depths up to 46 m (150 feet). They are found in the southern half of the Sea of Cortez and along the coast of the mainland south to Guatemala. They are known to inhabit the shells of large gastropods including Murex, Pleuroploca and Strombus.

Diet: Left-clawed Hermit Crabs are omnivorous their diet consists primarily of algae and small invertebrates.

Conservation Status:The Left-clawed Hermit Crab has not been formally evaluated from a conservation status.  However, they are common and of limited interest to most and should be considered to be of Least Concern.

Synonyms:  Dardanus imbricatus, Pagurus sinistripes and Parapylocheles glasselli