Dating, hermit crab style

[JohnE]

I watched a hermit crab drag a Purple Olive Snail shell maybe 4 feet today. I assumed it had a snail and was taking it off to eat it. It did seem odd that it was dragging its prey so far.

Over Chinese food leftovers at home I found it appears to be a smaller hermit crab of the same species. They look like Grainyhand hermit crab to me. Based on other crab behavior I am going to say this is a larger male paired up with a smaller female, perhaps waiting for her to molt. She doesn't seem to mind being dragged around...



There was quite a bit of crab romance today. Some Dungeness crab waiting for the moment...

[LCF]

I did a Monday Mukilteo dive with Jake a while back . . . we were poking through the brickyard, looking at little stuff, when I spotted a hermit crab with a smaller one held to his abdomen. I signaled Jake, who came over and was like, "Yeah, hermit crab, so?" until he figured out what I had spotted. He took a bunch of photos. I watched in bemusement. How DO you mate through two borrowed shells?

[Greg Jensen]

How DO you mate through two borrowed shells?

You don't. They both come most of the way out of their shells in order to get their naughty bits together, and it only lasts on the order of seconds. This after MANY days of foreplay.

[CaptnJack]

This after MANY days of foreplay.

There's hope afterall