Hermit Crab Anatomy
The photos below show Hermit crab (Pagurus dubius, family: Paguridae) that lives in sublittoral water, showing conspicuous striped legs and antenna.
Hermit Crab
November 2003, Tokyo Bay, Japan
The right cheliped is not shown in the photo above, which is regenerative. The photo below shows how the cheliped regenerates.
Hermit Crab
December 2003, Tokyo Bay, Japan
The photo below shows right side of P. dubius outside its shell. Its abdomen coils clockwise. The transparent membrane covers the abdomen showing the internal organs.
P. dubius moves with its simple, long, and pointed white dactyls, which hang on the objects on the ground. Click the following links to play video clip of P. dubius walking with its pereopods.
Eggs of P. dubius
The photo below shows the left side of P. dubius bearing black eggs on its pleopods. P. dubius in the photo is raising the first antenna.
Eyes of P. dubius
P. dubius reacts fast to the movements of distant objects both in front and back of the animal. The photo below shows the compound eye of P. dubius which faces opposite directions.
Gills of P. dubius
The gills are located under the soft and membranous posterior carapace. The photos below show the lateral and dorsal view of the gills. P. dubius frequently cleans its gills by its fifth pereopods.
