Tawny hermit crab
Coenobita rugosus
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 208657, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Tawny hermit crab
- Scientific
- Coenobita rugosus
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Depth and habitat
- Shore: beaches, rocks and coastal vegetation at and above the high-tide line; adults live on land and return to the sea to release larvae
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The tawny hermit crab is the land hermit crab seen on almost every Maldivian beach, carrying a borrowed snail shell. It is usually brown, grey or cream, with a large left claw that it uses to block the shell opening. It comes out mostly in the evening and at night to scavenge along the shore and the vegetation line, and it must return to the sea to release its larvae.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=15); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=417, 153 observers); literature records via OBIS.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Coenobita-rugosus.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=208657
- inaturalist.org /taxa/123362
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Coenobita_rugosus.jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.