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Ancient homes for hard-up hermit crabs

Nature volume 412, pages 785–786 (2001)Cite this article

A Correction to this article was published on 08 November 2001

Abstract

Mollusc shells are a vital but sometimes scarce resource for hermit crabs, protecting them from mechanical damage and desiccation, but they require continual replacement as the crab grows. I have discovered that Coenobita rugosus, a large, tropical, semi-terrestrial hermit crab, will resort to using fossil shells when no other suitable casing is available. These unlikely mobile homes fall out of coastal limestone as it is eroded by the sea in southwestern Madagascar, placing the occupants alongside Homo sapiens as resourceful exploiters of prehistoric animal remains.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Percentage of fossil shells inspected and used by the hermit crab Coenobita rugosus as shelter in relation to the availability of empty shells at five different sites in southwestern Madagascar.

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Author notes

  1. David K. A. Barnes

    Present address: British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Maddingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, University College Cork, Lee Maltings, Cork, Ireland

    David K. A. Barnes

  2. Frontier, 77 Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4QS, UK

    David K. A. Barnes

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  1. David K. A. Barnes
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Correspondence to David K. A. Barnes.

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Barnes, D. Ancient homes for hard-up hermit crabs. Nature 412, 785–786 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35090632

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