Hermit Crab
"Pagurus
bernhardus"
by: IF
Kingdom|
Phylum|
Class|
Order|
Family|
Genus and Species|
Fun Facts
|
Art and Poetry|
Work Cited| .
Kingdom:
Animal
-
thy are also called
Metazoa
-
The bodies of most
animals (all except sponges) are made up of cells organized into tissues, each
tissue specialized to some degree to perform specific functions
-
.Somewhere around 9
or 10 million species of animals inhabit the earth.
-
All animals are
members of the Kingdom Animalia, also called Metazoa. This Kingdom does not
contain the prokaryotes (Kingdom Monera, includes bacteria, blue-green algae)
or the protists (Kingdom Protista, includes unicellular eukaryotic organisms).
All members of the Animalia are multicellular, and all are heterotrophs (that
is, they rely directly or indirectly on other organisms for their
nourishment). Most ingest food and digest it in an internal cavity.
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Phylum
- bilateral symmetry
- segmented body, including
segmented muscles
- three germ layers and a
well-developed coelom.
- single, dorsal, hollow nerve
cord, usually with an enlarged anterior end (brain)
- tail projecting beyond (posterior
to) the anus at some stage of development
- pharyngeal pouches present at
some stage of development
- ventral heart, with dorsal and
ventral blood vessels and a closed blood system
- complete digestive system
- bony or cartilaginous
endoskeleton usually present
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Class
-
-
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Virtually every
imaginable feeding strategy is demonstrated by at least one member of the
class.
- Decapoda (crabs, lobsters,
and shrimps) is the most speciose order. Malacostracans exhibit the hard,
calcified exoskeleton typical of crustaceans. The body is divided into three
tagmata,
cephalon,
thorax,
and
abdomen.
The head and thorax are fused into a cephalothorax and may be difficult to
distinguish.
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Malacostracans are
distributed worldwide in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments.
There are roughly 25,000 species in as many as fifteen orders. Decapoda
(crabs, lobsters, and shrimps) is the most speciose order.
-
Malacostracans have a
powerful role in the economy. Humans consume large amounts of decapods, and
huge industries have developed around the capture or farming and sale of
shrimp, lobster, and crabs. There is also a large aquarium trade, supplying
animals both as pets and as food for fish and amphibians.
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Neogastropods can usually be
recognized by their long incurrent siphon and accompanying siphonal structure on
the base of the shell. Nearly all neogastropods are marine. Clea is a
rare freshwater genus.
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Family
Coenobita perlatus are
found living near coastal shorelines.
Coenobita perlatus
require regular access to the sea or water of high salinity. They are never far
from shore or adjacent dunes, and have been found in tidal pools, sandy areas,
and humid areas with dune vegetation. Migration occurs from the dune areas to
the sea when
C. perlatus need to
release their eggs into the water or are in need of water to maintain their body
moisture
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Genus and Species
-
Coenobita perlatus
require regular access to the sea or water of high salinity. They are never far
from shore or adjacent dunes, and have been found in tidal pools, sandy areas,
and humid areas with dune vegetation. Migration occurs from the dune areas to
the sea when
C. perlatus need to
release their eggs into the water or are in need of water to maintain their body
moisture.
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Art and Poetry
 |
The
Hermit Crab
The Hermit Crab
is not like
Kermit he is only
a hermit. He is
different colors he doesn't no his
mother. He is not scary nor is he hairy he is a Hermit Crab. |
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Works Cited
, . "." Online
posting. 1994. www.yahoo.cm. 18 Feb 2004. <http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Hermit+Crab&sub=Search&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-top>.
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Fun Facts
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Cancer irroratus live in
the benthic zone of the ocean (Ristvey & Rebach 1999). They are able to
adapt to extreme variations in depth. The depths that they exist at range
from deep waters at 2,600ft. to very shallow waters and occasionly well
inland from the low tide line (NJ Scuba, 1994-96). They live on a variety
of substrate types including rocky and loose material. Smaller crabs with
the cephalorthorax width of about 50 mm tend to inhabit muddy or sandy
bottoms, while other crabs seem to prefer the rocky bottoms (Gendron,
2001).
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The rock crab's size varies
considerably between males and females. A fully mature male can reach a
cephalothorax width (CW) between 50mm-140mm (Gendron,2001), and range in
weight from 49-202g (Miller & Addison, 1994). CW is measured as the distance
between the two most lateral notches on the carapace (Miller & Addison,
1995). It is uncommon for females to surpass 100mm CW (Gendron,2001). The
shape of a rock crab's shell is wide and oval. It is a yellowish color and
frequently shades of red and purplish brown are visible. The different array
of colors gives this creature a unique and colorful carapace. Another
interesting characteristic of the rock crab is its denitition, or teeth. The
rock crab has either nine broad and smooth or rough jagged teeth, depending
on its diet (Gosner,1978).
Rock crabs are opportunistic
feeders. Since they inhabit the benthic zone of the ocean from shallow
waters to depths extending to 2,600 ft., their food source is limited to
species that can survive in this zone as well. They eat an assortment of
items including algae, polychaetes, mussels, gastropods, and various
crustaceans including hermit crabs. An interesting thing regarding
Cancer irroratus food habits, is their responsiveness and affinity to
food types they were already accustomed to rather than to ones with which
they were unfamiliar. After being continuously fed one of two species they
had the capability of noticing the difference in odors exhibited by both
species, and expressed a preference for the most familiar one. This showed
that rock crabs are able to detect and respond to prey odors (Ristvey &
Rebach, 1999).
Work Cited
"http://www.gotosnapshot.com/Acad_Hermit/Acad_Crab_cat.html."
2004. 11 Feb 2004. <http://www.gotosnapshot.com/Acad_Hermit/Acad_Crab_cat.html>.
"Hermit Crab."
1995. University of Michigan. 11 Feb 2004. <http://www.animaldiversityweb.com/?p=1&linkid=10003571&search=Animal&ttype=lrs>.