This is a hermit crab shuffling along

One of my readers requested a post about hermit crabs, so with 1,100 different species of hermit crabs to choose from, I have decided to write about the Ecuadorian hermit crab.

Here are five interesting facts about them:

1. One of the smallest species of land hermit crabs, they only grow to about 12 mm or half an inch long.
2. Without the normal hard shell that most crabs have, they live in the shells of other species, and have the ability to remodel their new homes to make them lighter and create more space.  They will often start fights to steal the best shells from each other.
3. They eat dead fish, seaweed and almost anything else they can get their pincers into.
4. Although they spend a lot of time on land, Ecuadorian hermit crabs breathe with gills, not lungs.  Their shells are helpful in trapping water to keep their gills moist.
5. They live in tidal pools on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the nations of Ecuador and Chile.  They are also a very popular pet.

I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.

Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about Ecuadorian hermit crabs?