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Colorful and Unique Crabs That Beautify and Clean Your Aquarium Tank

Yes, crabs are also popular exotic aquarium pets. The most brightly-colored and most beautiful species are the usual creatures you’ll find in pet shops.

Here’s a list of the most beautiful and popular crabs in the world for your aquarium tank.

Striped Hermit Crab (Ciliopagurus strigatus)

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The Striped Hermit Crab is a brightly colored aquatic hermit crab. It is a favorite aquarium pet for its ability to routinely clean algae. It is an attractive pet for its festive striped coloration and is considered the most brightly colored hermit crab in normal aquarium use.

It feeds on anything but remember to feed it with the needed meat such as mussels, shrimp, clams and scallop so that it will not attack other fish and invertebrate in the tank. Overall, it can support a healthy aquarium environment. It is also known as Halloween Hermit Crab and Orange Legged Hermit Crab.

Blue-legged Hermit Crab (Clibanarius tricolor)

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The Blue Legged Hermit Crab is a brightly-colored crustacean that can be found in the Caribbean Sea. It is a popular aquarium pet and is known for various common names such as Tricolor Hermit Crab, Blue Leg Reef Hermit Crab, Equal Handed Hermit Crab and Blueleg Hermit Crab.

This lovely marine animal is characterized by its blue legs with red banding. It can attain a length of 2 cm and feeds on dead plants and animals, green hair algae, seaweed and cyanobacteria. Like the Halloween Hermit Crab, it is a popular aquarium hermit crab because of its coloration and because its feeding habits lead it to clean tanks.

Anemone Hermit Crab (Dardanus pedunculatus)

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Another hermit crab species that you can put to your aquarium tank to beautify it is the attractive Anemone Hermit Crab. This species is native to the Indo-pacific region and collects sea anemones to place on its shell for defense, hence the common name. This popular pet in marine aquaria can be found in Seychelles, Japan, Hawaii and Australia.

Feather Star Squat Lobster (Allogalathea elegans)

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The beautiful Allogalathea elegans on the above picture was taken in Cebu, Philippines where it is endemic. Feather Star Squat Lobster is also known as Crinoid Squat Lobster or Elegant Squat Lobster.

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The Feather Star Squat Lobster on the above photo is a black and white color morph. It is kept in marine aquariua because of its egg-shaped and striped body, beauty and elegance. In an aquarium, it requires a water temperature of 77–79 °F (25–26 °C), a pH of 8.1–8.3 and a salinity of 1.020–1.024. It feeds on thawed food and small freeze dried items.

Strawberry Hermit Crab (Coenobita perlatus)

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The Strawberry Hermit Crab is a terrestrial hermit crab that features reddish orange colors. This popular aquarium pet is a widespread scavenger across the Indo-Pacific region. It can grow up to 8 cm and can weigh 80 grams. In the wild, animals may live up to 30 years but only live for up to 4 years in captivity.

Caribbean Hermit Crab (Coenobita clypeatus)

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The Caribbean Hermit Crab is lovely-looking land hermit crab endemic to the West Atlantic, Bahamas, Belize, Florida, Virgin Island, West Indies and Venezuela. This scavenger and herbivorous creature feeds on animal and plant remains, overripe fruit, and feces of other animals. It uses the shell of the West Indian Top Snail for its home.

The Caribbean Hermit Crab is a popular pet sold in the United State. It is also known for a variety of common names such as Soldier Crab, West Atlantic Crab, Tree Crab, and Purple Pincher because of the distinctive purple claw.

Ecuadorian Hermit Crab (Coenobita compressus)

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The Ecuadorian Hermit Crab, also known as the Pacific Hermit Crab is another species of land hermit crab commonly sold as pet in the United States. It is one of the smallest hermit crabs in the world growing only up to 1.2 cm in length. If properly treated, it has a lifespan of up to 23 years with some cases of reaching 32 years.

Australian Land Hermit Crab (Coenobita variabilis)

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The Australian Land Hermit Crab is a terrestrial hermit crab endemic to Australia. This creature, which is kept as a pet, is a nocturnal, omnivorous crustacean. It can attain a length of 4 cm.

See also

The World’s Most Colorful Crabs
World’s Most Colorful and Unique Hermit Crabs
Unique and Peculiar Squat Lobsters
Freakiest and Weirdest Crabs in the World
Amazingly Unique and Weird Lobsters
World’s Most Colorful Lobster in Their Natural Habitats
World’s Most Colorful and Unique Porcelain Crabs
The Most Beautiful and Distinctively Colorful Hermit Crabs in the World

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