Long-clawed hermit crab

Pagurus longicarpus

Crustaceans
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth1–28 m
Water temperature8–26 °C
Best monthsJune, July, and August
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Alie / C.A. Kratzer, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

About this species

Pagurus longicarpus, the long-wristed hermit crab or the long-clawed hermit crab, is a common hermit crab found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States and the Atlantic coast of Canada.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pagurus longicarpus”, 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: 169 records
February: 119 records
March: 192 records
April: 458 records
May: 571 records
June: 1,180 records
July: 1,704 records
August: 1,861 records
September: 1,002 records
October: 536 records
November: 269 records
December: 114 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–28 m · Deepest record: 175 m

0–10 m: 337 records
10–20 m: 105 records
20–30 m: 137 records
30–40 m: 15 records
40–50 m: 12 records
50–60 m: 4 records
60–70 m: 3 records
70–80 m: 4 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 4 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 5 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–26 °C

8–10 °C: 2 records
10–12 °C: 3 records
12–14 °C: 72 records
14–16 °C: 6 records
16–18 °C: 10 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 47 records
24–26 °C: 33 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Ian Manning, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Scarlett S., some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lexi Amico, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Jonathan Layman, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) River Ahlquist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Cassidy Best, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Long-clawed hermit crab, Longwrist hermit, Long-armed Hermit Crab, long-clawed hermit crab, Longclaw Hermit, Long-claw Hermit Crab, Longclaw Hermit Crab, longwrist hermit, Longwrist Hermit, Small Hermit Crab

Names in 3 more languages

German: Langarm-Einsiedlerkrebs
French: bernard-l'ermite à longs bras
Japanese: ツメナガヨコバサミ

Other scientific names: Pagurus truncatulus

Similar species

Flatclaw hermit
Pagurus pollicaris
Pagurus filholi
Pagurus lanuginosus
Pagurus minutus
New Zealand Hermit Crab
Pagurus novizealandiae
Pagurus albidianthus

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).
2,042 open-data records from 1879 to 2023.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.

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