#4542 · 🦀 crabs & other crustaceans
Caribbean Land Hermit Crab
🇳🇱 Caraïbische heremietkreeft ·Coenobita clypeatus
📍 Llave, Vieques 00765, Puerto Rico
📍 Marathon, Florida 33050, USA
📍 Long Key State Park, Long Key, FL, US
📍 Las Galeras (D. M.)., 32000, Dominican Republic
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © jmkarp · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © isamarie_ana · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © MetteHHH · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © ZooFari · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. © Steven Severinghaus · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 6. © sea-kangaroo · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 7. Llave, Vieques 00765, Puerto Rico:© freemont7 · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Marathon, Florida 33050, USA:© Manja · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Long Key State Park, Long Key, FL, US:© Em · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Las Galeras (D. M.)., 32000, Dominican Republic:© Enrico · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The Caribbean hermit crab , Coenobita clypeatus , also known as the soldier crab , the West Atlantic crab , the tree crab , and the purple pincher (due to the distinctive purple claw), is a species of land hermit crab native to the west Atlantic, Bahamas, Belize, southern Florida, Venezuela, the Virgin Islands, and the West Indies. Adults burrow and hide under the roots of large trees, and can be found a considerable distance inland.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 12,058 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1787 (239 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Caribbean Land Hermit Crab
- Nederlands
- Caraïbische heremietkreeft
- scientific name
- Coenobita clypeatus
- class
- Malacostraca
- order
- Decapoda
- family
- Coenobitidae
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 12,058
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1787 by Johan Christian Fabricius
relatives· Coenobitidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 133675, Wikidata Q1183820, GBIF 5178542, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.