hermit crab

noun

any of numerous crabs, especially of the genera Pagurus and Eupagurus, that protect their soft uncovered abdomen by occupying the castoff shell of a univalve mollusk.

hermit crab

any small soft-bodied decapod crustacean of the genus Pagurus and related genera, living in and carrying about the empty shells of whelks or similar molluscs

First recorded in 1725–35

Someone called him a hermit crab lurking in the halls of the United Nations.

You may remember that we noticed an Anemone which lived on the stolen home of the Hermit Crab.

The crowd finds these systems ready-made and merely backs into them and hides itself like a hermit crab in a deserted seashell.

We soon discovered crab-claws projecting from its shell, and recognized it as a hermit-crab, an original freebooter.

The hermit-crab, which selects the empty shell of a whelk or winkle for its home, is probably well known to our readers.

This large hermit-crab, found in Florida and in more southern waters, inhabits the beautiful pearly shell of Livona pica.

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