Blue-knee hermit crab
Dardanus guttatus
- Usual depth11–17 m
- Water temperature23–30 °C
- Best monthsMay and June
- How commonRare
Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 15 records
- February: 29 records
- March: 29 records
- April: 39 records
- May: 75 records
- June: 92 records
- July: 28 records
- August: 29 records
- September: 35 records
- October: 29 records
- November: 30 records
- December: 23 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 11–17 m · Deepest record: 46 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 23–30 °C
Photos
(c) Kelvin Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Daniel Eisenhauer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) chiachiwu, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Blue-knee hermit crab, Blue-spotted hermit crab, blue-knee hermit crab, Blue Knee Hermit Crab, blue-spotted hermit crab
Names in 4 more languages
- German
- Blauknie-Einsiedlerkrebs
- French
- Bernard-l'ermite à genoux bleus, Pagure à genoux bleus
- Japanese
- アオボシヤドカリ
- Simplified Chinese
- 斑點真寄居蟹, 線斑真寄居蟹
Other scientific names: Dardanus cataphractus, Dardanus quthatus, Pagurus cataphractus, Pagurus guttatus
Similar species
Striated hermit crabDardanus arrosor
Mauve Eyed Hermit CrabDardanus crassimanus
Pale anemone hermitDardanus deformis
Black-eyed hermit crabDardanus lagopodes
Spotted hermit crabDardanus megistos
Anemone hermit crabDardanus pedunculatus
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.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 173 open-data records from 1812 to 2022.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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