PORT PHILLIP BAY


Stridulating Hermit Crab 

Strigopagurus strigimanus (White, 1847)

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Ocular scales not toothed. Chelipeds similar, left slightly larger than right, propodus and carpus armed with strong teeth, each with sharp horny point, facing surfaces of propodus and dactylus ornamented with rows of corneous striae forming a stridulating organ. Rostrum broad, weakly produced. Shield convex; mesogastric region usually marked by lateral grooves which meet posteriorly as sharp angle and continue as median groove; cardiac region smooth. Walking legs with dactyli longer than propodi. Usually a pair of pleopods (pleopods 2) and 3 single pleopods on left side in male; 4 unpaired pleopods in female, the last similar to the others. Pleurobranch present on thoracic somite 8. Maxilla 1 with lateral flagellum on endopod. Abdominal somites 2?5 with chitinous terga. Eyestalk completely red except for white ring around eye. Cheliped and pereopods without red spots.

Source: Poore, G.C.B. (2004) Marine decapod Crustacea of southern Australia. A guide to identification (with chapter on Stomatopoda by Shane Ahyong). CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 574 pp.

Taxonomy

Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Subclass:
Eumalacostraca
Superorder:
Eucarida
Order:
Decapoda
Suborder:
Pleocyemata
Infraorder:
Anomura
Family:
Diogenidae
Genus:
Strigopagurus
Species:
strigimanus

General Description

Body red-brown with hairs on the legs and claws. Eyes blue. Up to 13 cm long (carapace).

Biology

Stridulating Hermit Crabs flex and extend parts of their claws to produce a sound to scare away predators and other crabs. They eat plant and animal matter, as well as shellfish. They are the largest hermit crab in Victorian offshore waters.

Habitat

Reef and seaweed areas, to depths greater than 130 m.

Reefs

Distribution guide

Southern Australia.

Species Group

Hermit Crabs

Depth

Shallow (1-30 m)
Deep ( > 30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

13 cm

Diet

Carnivore

Harmful

Not harmful but a nip from large claws could be painful

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Native to Australia

Species Code

MoV 3852

Conservation Status

  • DSE Advisory List : Not listed
  • EPBC Act 1999 : Not listed
  • IUCN Red List : Not listed

Author

article author Taylor, J.

Dr. Jo Taylor is the Sciences Collections Online Coordinator at Museum Victoria.

Author

article author Poore, G.C.B.

Dr. Gary Poore is Principal Curator Emeritus at Museum Victoria.

citation

Cite this page as:
Taylor, J. & Poore, G.C.B., 2011, Stridulating Hermit Crab, Strigopagurus strigimanus, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 27 Jul 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/4091

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