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中文/日本語 |
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Click different
parts of the land hermit crab |
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Scientific name: |
Coenobita
violascens |
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Chinese name: |
深紫陸寄居蟹(This name is just translated by me
from Japanese) |
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English name: |
Komurasaki
Land Hermit Crab |
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Japanese name: |
コムラサキオカヤドカリ |
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Max length of front part (head) of cephalothorax: |
30mm |
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Distribution(Map): |
India
~
Pacific Ocean,
Philippines,
Japan,
Eastern part
of Africa,
Polynesia |
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Habitat: |
Live near the river mouth of
mangrove |
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Chirping: |
Cannot make
sound |
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Favorite Shell: |
Neptunea tabulata,
Turbo shell |
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*Remark |
In Japan,
they belong to a species which is "although now they are not
in danger, they will become extinct if the environment is
polluted continually " and belong to a natural monument.
Many people misunderstand
C. cavipes
as C. violascens.
If we look at their 1st pair of antenna, we can easily
identify both of them. 1st pair of antenna of C. cavipes are
not red, but C. violascens are red. |
The following species information is for
reference only
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Body colour is
Dark Purple, Dark Blue, Purple-black or
Blackish Green.
Their
juvenile
tend to orange in colour. Blue colour will become much more
when they grow
but the dactylus of walking leg and claw still remain orange.
At
last, they will become all in blue or purple. There are many light colour
granule / spot on the body.
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Dactylus
of walking leg and claw still remain orange (Red
circle) |
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Dactylus
of walking leg and claw change to purple (Red circle) |
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Eyes are
elongated in shape.
Eyestalks
(Red circle)
of
adult
are black in colour.
But
for
juvenile,
only the lower part
eyestalks of eyestalks are black.
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1st pair of antenna
are red (Red circle). The colour may
become darker and darker when they are older. Antennal acicle cannot move,
fused with second segment of its peduncle.
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Left claw is larger than right claw. Big
claw is slightly oblong and there
are no ridge (////) on the upper part of the
it (Red circle).
The
lower half
portion of palm
(White circle)
with few
granule / spot, nearly smooth and with a
distinct large patch of dark brown on outer surface. 
Also, there are some hair on the inside
part of both claw.
The bottom part of left claw (below red
narrow) is straight or concave in middle portion
and its proximal part strongly produced into a
lobe-like projection (below
pink line).
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Shape of big claw has a little bit
different among different species |
Walking legs
are strong for
climbing.
According to the "A Catalog of The Hermit Crabs (Paguroidea)
of Taiwan" (by Chan Tin Yam), outer surface of propodus of
left
3rd leg separated from dorsal surface by a well-marked
longitudinal crest.
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DRAW
by TONY |
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Abdomen is quite slim and long (Red
circle), this may be a reason why they always use longer
shell.
(just my opinion)
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Juvenile tend to
orange in colour. Blue colour will become much more when
they grow but the tips of walking leg and claw still remain
orange.
At
last, they will become all in blue or purple. There are many light colour
granule / spot on the body. From
the above description , pictures below should be the
juvenile of
C. violascens and the 1st pair of
antenna
are red (Red circle).
Below is a
photo about the change of body colour of C.violascens.
They are orange when they are small, and become dark
purple when they are old.
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click the photo
to see bigger photo (scale about 1:1) |
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The shape of
male sexual tube as below.
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