Electric Blue Hermit Crab – Calcinus elegans

The Electric Blue Hermit Crab (Calcinus elegans) has alternating electric blue and black bands down each leg. Their eye stalks are blue as well, and their antennae and mouth parts are orange. This is a medium-sized hermit crab and is more of a predator and scavenger than other primarily algae-eating smaller hermit crabs. A color variation from Hawaii is orange and black instead of blue and black and is known as the Halloween Hermit Crab.

Most hermit crabs are scavengers. Some smaller hermit crabs will feed on algae like nuisance hair algae while larger hermit crabs are scavengers and carnivores. Most hermit crabs are opportunistic – they will not actively hunt for a fish or active invertebrates but will prey on sick, dead, or dying individuals. Only the larger hermits like those from the genuses Aniculus, Dardanus, Peguristes, and Petrochirus are a real threat to healthy, larger tankmates or to corals. Calcinus, Clibanarius, and Paguristes are some of the most common \