The charming hermit crab Clibanarius africanus has become a very popular aquarium inhabitant. It is an euryhalin species, which means that it can survive in both pure fresh and pure marine water. However, it seems that it can live in pure freshwater only for a few months, so it is much better to keep it in brackish water.
Clibanarius are detritus feeders. Detritus is composed from several dead stuff of plants and animals. In the aquarium, Clibanarius feed readily on any typical fish food. Usually C. africanus are imported with the brown snail shells of the snail species Tympanotonus fuscatus, but occasionally they bear the white houses of the snail Pachymelania aurita.
For more information on the hermit crab, please click http://www.aqualog.de/Aqualog/news/web69/69-17-19e.pdf
For our customers: the crabs have code 483123 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Clibanarius: term for a heavily armoured cavalryman. africanus: means “comes from Africa”.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
