Hermit Crabs of Singapore Seashores

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	Kingdom Animale \| Phylum Arthropoda \| Subphylum Crustacea \| Class Malacostrata

*Diogenes*	Hermit Crabs Order Decapoda
	These are not true crabs, and have acquired their name	*Coenobita*
from their habit of occupying empty gastropod shells to protect their soft bodies. They thus have to change to bigger shells as they grow.

The rocky shore hermit crabs mainly belong to two genera - the large (3-5cm) and colourful (usually red or blue) Clibanarius (F. Diogenidae) which has both pincers approximately equal in size and the small Diogenes (F. Diogenidae) (1-1.5cm), which has a drab grey or brown colour and very unequal pincers. The land hermit crab, Coenobita (F. Coenobitidae) (3-6cm) is terrestrial, except for the occasional dip to wet its gills. It is common on the sand banks bordering reefs. All are scavengers, detritai and algal feeders.

Introduction
Shore environment

From A Guide to Seashore Life by Dr Leo W H Tan and Peter K L Ng
Published by the Singapore Science Centre and sponsored by BP
@Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research and Singapore Science Centre