Context: The majority of terrestrial hermit crab species worldwide have used trash as shells, according to a recent study by experts.

• The research, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, revealed that two-thirds of hermit crab species were pictured using “artificial shells,” mainly discarded plastic caps.

About Hermit Crab

• Hermit crabs are small crustaceans that lack a shell and must “borrow” one from another animal. 

• They use empty snail shells (e.g., whelk or periwinkle) or other hollow objects as a shelter for partial containment and protection of the body.

• Habitat: Hermit crabs, worldwide in distribution, occur in sandy- or muddy-bottomed marine waters and occasionally on land and in trees. 

Features

• They can grow up to 6 inches long.

• There are two pairs of antennae and five pairs of legs.

• They are opportunistic scavengers, feeding on anything they can find.

• They have tough pincers but a soft body, which they coil up inside their borrowed shell, using their hooked tail to help them to grip on. 

• They molt (shed their skin) and change shells as they grow.

• Despite their name, hermit crabs are social creatures and can live together in pairs or groups.

• They can live for up to 10 years.