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White-spotted hermit crab
Dardanus megistos
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 208700, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- White-spotted hermit crab
- Scientific
- Dardanus megistos
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Maximum size
- Up to about 20 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Reef-associated, recorded from 0 to 50 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The white-spotted hermit crab is a large hermit crab with red legs and claws covered in black-rimmed white spots. It lives on reefs, sand and rubble in large snail shells, often decorated with sea anemones.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=7); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=62, 39 observers); literature records via OBIS.
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Dardanus-megistos.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=208700
- inaturalist.org /taxa/143945
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Cangrejo_ermitaño_(Dardanus_megistos),_Zanzíbar,_Tanzania,_
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.