Hermit crabs are small crabs that carry shells on their backs, both for a home and for safety. But with shells being harder ...

In hermit crab world, shells are a prized commodity. One that's worth fighting to the death for. Well, maybe not to the death. But it's still pretty violent by hermit crab standards.

Hermit crabs can potentially live for over 10 years in captivity, but this is rare, and most have a short lifespan. Even with the best care, some crabs may only live for one or two years.

A hermit crab will change shells once it outgrows the current one it’s inhabiting. During a process called molting, which typically occurs once every 12 to 18 months for adult hermit crabs, but ...

When the time comes to move to a larger shell, the crab, with some difficulty and great persistence, prises her anemones off the old shell and fixes them to the new. Because they are small, and ...

None of the roughly 850 known hermit crab species, most of which live in the sea and some on land, can grow their own shells. Instead, the crabs occupy shells originally left behind by dead snails.

The bold crab that lingers outside its home is just asking for a deadly hug. By David Malakoff ScienceNOW Sunday, October 14, 2012 2 min to read ...