Hermit Id Please?

[GlidergirlUK]

While on holiday in Cuba I picked up this rather large hermit (I did put him back in his original location of course!) I was wondering if anyone can ID him?

 

[seffieuk]

You want Donya for the this question - pm her is she doesn't appear

Seffie x

 

[GlidergirlUK]

cheers, will do!

Oh I will start my marine journal later, just doing water changes right now.

 

[seffieuk]

Excellent - look forward to reading about your journey

Seffie x

 

[Lynden]

Probably a Dardanus of some sort. I have a Dardanus megistos in my sump. They are hardy and often personable but they are very powerful animals. Think of the problems that some people report with the dwarf hermits and multiply that by ten.

 

[GlidergirlUK]

thanks for that, I remember thinking it looked like an alien at the time! ( I knew nothing about hermits then!) It was so big and nearly jumped out of its shell!

 

[Donya]

I agree with Lynden, looks Dardanus-ish. However...I don't see the characteristic large claw. Was this guy in posession of both his arms, or was the one on the left missing? Kind of tough to tell from the photo the exact species since it's unclear if its solid red or has some patterning. If it had pronounced white spots with black rings on the carapace in particular, then maybe D. megistos (I've noticed that the spotting doesn't seem to be uniform on that species accross individuals), although I just made another post before seeing this one about being uncertain of that species' range. I'm not aware of many other Dardanus of that color that grow to be that large, although that doesn't mean they aren't out there (would just mean the literature wasn't accurate on the sizes).

 

[Donya]

Hmm...range would also be right for an arm-less Petrochirus diogenes perhaps (aka giant hermit)? It's another often reddish and sometimes speckly species, although it tends to have rather massive claws.

 

[GlidergirlUK]

from memory I dont recall seeing any claws...just long legs....I know I wouldnt have picked it up if it could have givn me a nasty nip! Also I think it was just orange/red, no spots or strioes of any sort. Also seemed a little like it had almost thorns (obviously not actually thorns) on its legs?

it was over a year ago. I was only wondering because this is the only one I have ever seen that was so big.

 

[Donya]

Thorny things on the legs could be either Petrochirus or Dardanus (of some species...Dardanus arrosor is also pretty similar looking, but the range is wrong), but large Dardanus I've seen, such as megistos and pedunculatus, tend to be hairy all over and not particularly "thorny" looking, although that could be because I've got a different mental image of what that means. Not sure if these images will work but here goes:

Petrochirus diogenes
http/i.pbase.com/o6/07/758307/1/86693289...MITCRABP1RW.jpg - a very brightly colored one. Not all are that speckled, but shows the thicker hairs on the legs.

Dardanus megistos
http/www.scuba-equipment-usa.com/marine/...us_megistos.jpg - obviously not the one you saw since megistos is spotted, but it shows the difference in hairs.

 

[GlidergirlUK]

Petrochirus diogenes Has the right type of legs, very bumpy looking. Who knows....maybe a hybrid if that is possible?

 

[Donya]

Petrochirus diogenes Has the right type of legs, very bumpy looking. Who knows....maybe a hybrid if that is possible?

Nah I don't think it would be a hybrid. Petrochirus diogenes has a really wide range of possible physical appearances and slight color/texture variations, so it's unlikely that there'd be an image floating around on the web that's an exact match for all amounts of bumpiness and hair thickness. Given the area where yours was found, it's impressive size, and a good enough match on the legs (since there are no arms, which always makes IDing a little harder unfortunately), my guess would ge P. diogenes.

 

[GlidergirlUK]

Thanks for your help. Now I know what it possibly could have been.

I do love hermits they are soo cute!