Black-eyed hermit crab

Dardanus lagopodes

Crustaceans
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth6–15 m
Water temperature21–30 °C
Best monthsFebruary, September, and November
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Dardanus lagopodes, known commonly as the hairy red hermit crab, is a species of marine decapod crustacean in the family Diogenidae. Dardanus lagopodes is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific region, including the Red Sea. It reaches a length of 10 centimetres (3.9 in).

Text from the Wikipedia article “Dardanus lagopodes”, 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: 99 records
February: 179 records
March: 115 records
April: 111 records
May: 128 records
June: 118 records
July: 115 records
August: 108 records
September: 141 records
October: 101 records
November: 202 records
December: 113 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–15 m · Deepest record: 110 m

0–10 m: 40 records
10–20 m: 129 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110–120 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 21–30 °C

20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 13 records
24–26 °C: 25 records
26–28 °C: 40 records
28–30 °C: 149 records

Photos

(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jay Paroline, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Borja Fierro-Leva, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Black-eyed hermit crab, Dark-knee hermit crab, Hairy red hermit crab, black-eyed hermit crab, dark-knee hermit crab, Dark Knee Hermit Crab, hairy red hermit crab, Hare Hermit Crab

Names in 4 more languages

German: Schwarzaugen-Dardanus
French: Bernard-l'ermite des récifs, Pagure lièvre
Japanese: オイランヤドカリ
Simplified Chinese: 毛足真寄居蟹

Other scientific names: Cancer lagopodes, Dardanus helleri, Pagurus affinis, Pagurus depressus, Pagurus euopsis

Similar species

Anemone hermit crab
Dardanus pedunculatus
Calcinus gaimardii

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).
641 open-data records from 1775 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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