When a common marine hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus) grows, it starts to look for slightly larger shells that it can live in. We know that it wants to carry around something more comfortable and appropriately-sized, but what else factors into a hermit crab’s new shell choices? Is it their mood? Is it the look of the shell? Perhaps it’s something about the shell’s interior that they like?
Get a peek at a hermit crab’s abdomen (a crabdomen?!) as these two hermit crabs make the move, above and below:
Related videos: Shelby changes shells, a hermit crab named Godzilla, this Caribbean hermit crab mass migration, and a time lapse classic featuring this molting Japanese spider crab.
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