Blue Legged Hermit Crab

Scarlet & Blue Leg Hermits are an essential part of any Clean up Crew.  This omnivore can access the smallest crevices and openings within aquascape to consume any nuisance algae including hair algae and cyanobacteria. They also will consume uneaten foods and waste while moving around you aquarium which helps aerate sand substrate encouraging growth and activity of beneficial bacteria.

C. tricolor is a popular aquarium hermit crab because of its coloration and because its feeding habits lead it to clean tanks. It is emblematic of the public's shift from purely decorative animals to "working" animals that help sustain the aquarium's ecosystem, reducing the need for active management by the owner.

When it ejects from its shell and is not able to find a new one or the one it was just in it has been observed it then hides its soft body parts next to a sea anemone's foot for temporary protection.

During molting the crab will shed his exoskeleton. The exoskeleton tends to linger on the substrate. The exoskeleton resembles a crab that has been removed from his shell, often causing caregivers to believe the crab died.