Chilean Hermit Crab

• A hermit crab's abdomen is asymmetrical and curved to fit the spiral of the shell it occupies.
• The supply of empty shells, rather than food, is usually what limits the size of their populations.
• Like all hermit crabs, it has a soft, asymmetrical abdomen shaped to the spiral of the shell it occupies, and protects it by withdrawing inside.
• Shells are a scarce resource: hermit crabs compete for them and form exchange chains when a good-sized empty one turns up.
• It is an opportunistic scavenger and detritivore.

Habitat and environment

Shallow rocky and sandy bottoms of the south-eastern Pacific

Sources consulted: Bibliografía de Paguridae del Índico occidental · WoRMS

The pins mark the parks and dive sites where its presence is documented.