Passionfruit Hermit Crab

The passionfruit hermit crab is a land hermit crab distributed across eastern Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Polynesia, and Micronesia, with a brown or blue grey body, orange antennae, a purple chela, and a larger left claw used for climbing. It stays near shorelines despite being terrestrial and mainly nocturnal, living in large groups in mangrove trees and sheltering in sand or debris by day while keeping saltwater in its shell for hydration and gas exchange, and it favors large turbo shells and occasionally the hollowed shell of a hard passion fruit, which gives it its common name. Breeding runs from mid May to late August, females can produce two or more broods, and eggs incubate for about 30 days before being released into the sea as larvae.