Calcinus elegans

(Milne Edwards, 1836)

Vernacular names
English : Electric blue hermit-crab
French : Bernard l’ermite élégant

Classification
Class : Malacostraca
Order : Decapoda
Family : Diogenidae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification
Adults can grow to 5 cm in body length with shells up to 7.5 cm in length. Unmistakable. Bright blue and black banded legs, blue eyes and eye peduncles, green claws with white tips. Bright orange antennae.

Range and habitat
The species occurs in the Indo-Pacific area, from East Africa to Hawaii and French Polynesia, north to South Japan, south to North Australia. Lives in intertidal areas, around coral reefs and coral rubble, down to 5 meters deep.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : NOT LISTED
CITES : Not listed
Status : The species has a huge range and is common where its habitat isn’t altered too much. Vulnerable to overcatching for trade and habitat destruction.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation

 

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