Category: Crabs and Shrimp view all from this category

Description 1 1/4" (32 mm) long, 1" (25 mm) wide. Living in snail shell. Oblong. Whitish or pale tannish-gray, eyestalks brown. Carapace widest at rear. Right pincer larger than left, covered with low, rounded projections, especially at borders; hand broad and rounded, width 2/3 length, finger with blunt angle midway along its border. 5th pair of walking legs turned up. Abdomen long, soft, cylindrical, with reduced appendages.

Habitat On sand bottoms along open shores, and in brackish estuaries; from low-tide line to water 150' (46 m) deep.

Range Cape Cod to Florida and Texas.

Discussion This large hermit crab is frequently found living in shells of moon snails and the larger whelks. The Zebra Flatworm often shares the shell as a commensal.