Hermit crabs have a bizarre trick for squeezing into shells that seem impossibly small, and scientists just figured out the surprising mechanism behind it. The answer has nothing to do with appetite, ...

For decades, biologists have known that hermit crabs forced to live in shells that are too small slow their growth. What wasn't clear was how they did it. New research suggests the answer isn't simply ...

A new species of hermit crab discovered in the shallow waters of southern Japan has been enjoying the perks of living like a peanut worm. Like the worms, the 7- to 8-millimeter-long hermit crab uses ...

When hermit crabs do battle, they rap aggressively on each other’s shells, relentlessly beating on each other until one admits defeat and is ousted from its shell for good. It’s brutal, aggressive, ...

In the animal kingdom, cannibalism isn’t taboo. Snacking on dead members of the same species is widespread among creatures ranging from orangutans to octopuses. Hermit crabs, too, are no strangers to ...

Social animals usually congregate for protection or mating or to capture bigger prey, but a University of California, Berkeley, biologist has found that the terrestrial hermit crab has a more ...

The coconut crab looks like something straight out of a monster movie. With a leg span exceeding 3 feet and claws capable of ...

Terrestrial hermit crabs are soft-bodied crustaceans that live near water in the world's tropical areas. Without any natural protection of their own, these crabs normally find shelter in discarded ...

About this time two years ago, we looked at the efforts of Miles Lightwood and the Thingiverse community to 3D print shells for hermit crabs, but Tokyo-born artist Aki Inomata has been creating ...

It’s okay if this weirds you out.

Most of the time, hermit crabs live up to their names, keeping to themselves and refusing to socialize with each other members of their species nearby. But sometimes hermit crabs hang out… and they’re ...