Striated hermit crab

Dardanus arrosor

Crustaceans
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth43–398 m
Water temperature14–27 °C
Best monthsMay
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Peter Southwood, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Peter Southwood · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Dardanus arrosor, the red reef hermit or Mediterranean hermit crab, is a species of hermit crab.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Dardanus arrosor”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 24 records
February: 46 records
March: 90 records
April: 142 records
May: 708 records
June: 287 records
July: 48 records
August: 55 records
September: 30 records
October: 28 records
November: 26 records
December: 30 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 43–398 m · Deepest record: 807 m

0–10 m: 21 records
10–20 m: 14 records
20–30 m: 15 records
30–40 m: 38 records
40–50 m: 105 records
50–60 m: 91 records
60–70 m: 89 records
70–80 m: 97 records
80–90 m: 99 records
90–100 m: 62 records
100–110 m: 22 records
110+ m: 490 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–27 °C

12–14 °C: 1 records
14–16 °C: 3 records
16–18 °C: 39 records
18–20 °C: 373 records
20–22 °C: 63 records
22–24 °C: 41 records
24–26 °C: 4 records
26–28 °C: 4 records

Photos

(c) Shaun Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Kelvin Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim Johnson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Peter Southwood, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Javier, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Striated hermit crab, striated hermit crab

Names in 5 more languages

German: Großer Einsiedlerkrebs
French: Bernard-l'hermite (Le), Bernardo (Le), Gaste (Le), Grand bernard l'ermite (Le), Pagure strié (Le), Grand bernard-l'ermite, Pagure strié
Japanese: ケスジヤドカリ, ケスジヤドカリ／ヨコスジヤドカリ, ヨコスジヤドカリ
Korean: 털줄왼손집게
Simplified Chinese: 鱗片真寄居蟹

Other scientific names: Aniculus chiltoni, Cancer arrosor, Eupagurus striatus, Pagurus arrosor, Pagurus incisus, Pagurus striatus, Pagurus strigosus, Petrochirus arrosor

Similar species

Mauve Eyed Hermit Crab
Dardanus crassimanus
Pale anemone hermit
Dardanus deformis
Black-eyed hermit crab
Dardanus lagopodes
Spotted hermit crab
Dardanus megistos
Anemone hermit crab
Dardanus pedunculatus
Jeweled anemone hermit
Dardanus gemmatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,352 open-data records from 1796 to 2023.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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