Red Sea Anemone Hermit Crab
Dardanus tinctor
- Usual depth75 m
- Water temperature27–29 °C
- Best monthsFebruary, July, and November
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) R Vasconcellos, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Dardanus tinctor, the anemone hermit crab, is a species of marine hermit crab in the family Diogenidae. Dardanus tinctor 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 tinctor”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 4 records
- February: 28 records
- March: 12 records
- April: 15 records
- May: 5 records
- June: 5 records
- July: 23 records
- August: 11 records
- September: 13 records
- October: 11 records
- November: 20 records
- December: 9 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 75 m · Deepest record: 75 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 27–29 °C
Photos
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Red Sea Anemone Hermit Crab
Names in 2 more languages
- German
- Anemonenträger
- French
- Bernard-l'ermite de mer Rouge
Other scientific names: Cancer tinctor, Dardanus varipes, Pagurus brevipes, Pagurus tinctor, Pagurus varipes
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.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 108 open-data records from 1775 to 1861.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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