Grainyhand hermit crab

Appearance

common intertidal hermit crab is most easily distinguished by the light blue raised dots on the chelipeds and walking legs, plus the unbanded orange or red antennae. The legs of young individuals may be yellow. Carapace to 1.9 cm.

Naming

Eupagurus granosimanus

Distribution

Unalaska, Aleutian Islands, Alaska to Bahia de Todos Santos, Baja California

Behavior

This species is often found in Tegula funebralis, Searlesia dira or Nucella lamellosa shells. Small individuals live in Littorina shells. It seems to prefer shells large enough that it can completely withdraw inside. It lives lower in the intertidal than does P. hirsutiusculus but higher than P. beringanus. This is said to be the smallest intertidal hermit crab to be found in Puget Sound, but I have not noticed it being particularly small. Predators include the black prickleback, Xiphister atropurpureus. The species is active mainly in the afternoon and night, and sometimes can be found in large aggregations on shallow sand bottoms.

Habitat

Rocky, cobbles, and among algae.

Reproduction

They produce 3 broods per year in the Puget Sound area. The females carry their eggs for about 55 days, and the planktonic zoea/megalops stages last about 70 days.