Hermit Crabs in Things on North Ambergris Caye

Or…Hermit Crabs in junk.

Hermit crabs are some TRULY fascinating creatures. Whatever adaptation allowed their tail ends to shrivel, curl up, and jam into hard shells made by other creatures for protection – it blows my mind.

I can’t think of anything else like these clever little creatures. Some animals produce their own hard shells – conch, turtles – some curl up to protect themselves – armadillos, pangolins, and potato bugs (or whatever you called them in your neck of the woods) or make cocoons but taking an external shell?! It’s way cool.

There are many types of these crabs around the world – and they are divided into two main types. Aquatic and terrestrial.

The ones I am familiar with on Ambergris Caye are primarily terrestrial, though they lay their eggs in the water, and the larvae/small hermit crabs grab their first shells in the shallow water and cling to rocks along the water edge until they are ready to emerge, fully, onto land.

I also know that they use all sorts of shells to protect themselves but…they will use anything that is convenient to make their homes.

As the “backstop of the Caribbean” – we can get quite a bit of trash washing up on our shores from rivers in Central and South America (in recent days, I’ve found trash from Guatemala and Venezuala – and even China!)

But we also get plenty from Haiti and Dominican Republic and Jamaica depending on the ocean flow.

Clever hermit crabs – that scavenge in the brush and tend to be in more remote areas of the island – will take up homes of convenience. And it isn’t always shells that they find before they take off their old one…

Here are some hermit crabs in junk that I’ve seen on Ambergris Caye, Belize.

Note: This is not a frequent thing – there are hundreds, thousands…more…of hermit crabs in shells on this island. I’d say 1 in 500…1 in 1000 is in a “non-traditional home”. And while I saw it only as depressing, I guess it is good that these little guys have learned to adapt to our changing planet. (Here’s an even more depressing look at it…though super interesting that hermit crabs emit a chemical sign when they are ready to change shells to attract others)

And then au natural…

Here’s a pic of things you might see on the waters edge – either on rocks/coral or in the sand. Each about the size of my pinkie nail. Each shell has one.

Tiny hermit crabs in tiny snail shells.

Additional things I’ve learned in the past year or so…

They eat ANYTHING. They are serious scavengers. Here they are on some leftover rice and beans that the construction-era cook dumped in the bush.

Some chirp or bark when threatened.

And lastly, they all spawn together. Come down to the beachside to meet and lay eggs in the water.

To see photos at Rojo Beach Lounge (8-10 years ago when the area was way more wooded) – see this article. The spawning get-together in July was a sight to behold!

Amazing, right?