Paguritta

Paguritta
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Paguridae
Genus: Paguritta
Melin 1939
Type species
Paguritta gracilipes
Melin, 1939
Synonyms
  • Eupagurus (Paguritta) Melin, 1939
  • Orthopaguropsis Serène, 1957

Paguritta is a genus of hermit crabs in the family Paguridae, known as coral hermit crabs. Atypically for hermit crabs, this genus comprises species which live within polychaete tubes associated with corals (such as those of Spirobranchus giganteus), or bore their own holes in living coral, depending on species. They feed by filtering using their modified antennae equipped with setae and setules.

There are seven species assigned to this genus:

A diagnostic feature of this genus is the complete absence of pleopods in the males and their reduction in females; the former trait is shared with multiple other genera, but only the females of Anapagurus drachi experience a similar degree of pleopod reduction. Another is the symmetry of their uropods, thought to be due to their niche; hermit crabs inhabiting gastropod shells have asymmetrical uropods due to the shell's spiral. Paguritta kroppi individuals may have both male and female gonopores.

References

  1. 1 2 "Paguritta Melin, 1939". DecaNet. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  2. ↑ "Coral Hermit Crab | Smithsonian Ocean".
  3. ↑ Miyake, S., 1982. Japanese Crustacean Decapods and Stomatopods in Color. I. Macrura, Anomura and Stomatopoda. Osaka, Hoikusha Publishing Co., Ltd. 261 pp. (In Japanese).
  4. ↑ Lewinsohn, Ch., 1978. Bemeikungen zurTaxonomie von Paguriita harmsi (Gordon) (Crustacea Decapoda, Anomura) und Beschreibung einer neuen Art der gleichen Gattung aus Australien. Zool. Med., 53:243-252.
  5. ↑ Schuhmacher, H., 1977. A hermit crab, sessile on corals, exclusively feeds by feathered antennae. Oecologia (Berl.), 27: 371-374.
  6. 1 2 3 McLaughlin, Patsy A.; Lemaitre, Rafael (1993). "A review of the hermit crab genus Paguritta (Decapoda: Anomura: Paguridae) with descriptions of three new species". Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 41 (1): 1–29. hdl:10088/7371.
  7. ↑ Melin, G. (1939). "Paguriden und Galatheiden von Prof. Dr. Sixten Bocks Expedition nach den Bonin-Inseln". Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar. 18: 1–119.
  8. ↑ "Paguritta Melin, 1939". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  9. ↑ Forest, J., 1966. Campagne dans le golfe de Guinee et aux les Principe, Sao Tome et Annobon (1956). 17. Crustaces Decapodes; Pagurides. Ris. Sci. Camp. Calypso. Ann. Inst. Oceanogr. n.s., 44:159-172.