Halloween hermit crab

Care at a glance

The halloween hermit crab is orange-red with black bands across the legs, which makes it one of the most colourful clean-up crew members for a reef tank. Like all hermits it lives in an empty snail shell, which it must swap for a bigger one as it grows.

So always keep a number of empty shells in a range of sizes available; without a supply, hermits will sometimes kill a living snail for its shell. It grazes hair algae and film off the rock and usually leaves corals alone.

Related species

• Arrow crabStenorhynchus seticornis
• Longspine urchinDiadema setosum
• Fighting conchStrombus alatus
• Pencil urchinEucidaris tribuloides
• Bumble bee snailEngina mendicaria
• Chocolate chip starfishProtoreaster nodosus