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Species is usually red in appearance with expanded chromatophores forming blue spots over their cheliped (claws) and walking legs. The antennae and antennules are bright red. The tips of all legs are also red or orange.
This small crab is the best algae eating hermit crab we have tested.
Chibanarius digueti feeds on algae that grows on the rocky substrate
and mangrove roots.
C. digueti occupies a large variety of shells. This hermit crab is found
in the oldest coraline incrusted shells. I have found entire colonies in
broken sand worn shells. The crabs from La paz often occupied such a
strange assortment of shells that I could identify the colonies before I
looked at the crabs.
Both the Blue leg hermits and the red San Sabastion crabs always are
collected in clean fresh shells. Both of these crabs have eaten snails in
my reef tanks. I have kept C. digurti in reef tanks in colonies of over 10
crabs per gallon with many types of snails.
These red legged crabs are very effective at eating hair algae. I have
observed many small C. digueti settle in the center of patches of hair
algae and stay there for several days until they have cleared a patch over
one inch in diameter. This small hermit crab will clean red sponges and
small polyp colonies and not damage them in any way. I have watched these
crabs clean red cyanabacteria from new woods polyps and not damage the
cuttings.
In nature C. digueti feeds by scavenging the algae that has started to
decay from being exposed at low tide. I often find large groups of these
hermit crabs on algae covered rocks.
A very important item are the Mexican Red Leg Hermit Crabs. These little suckers are amazing! I had several rocks which had Cyanobacteria red slime algae covering them from the old system.
The morning after adding the crabs I witnessed "Herds" of about 6 or 7 crabs each that would concentrate on a rock at a time, totally eliminating the Cyanobacteria I have never heard of a cyanobacteria eating critter like this and it seems they actually prefer it! A week later, my tank was almost completely free of red slime.
I have not seen them harm anything in the tank. I even tested this in another tank. I placed a small rock fully covered in Cyanobacteria and 8 crabs in a 10 gallon tank for 4 hours. In 4 hours, the rock was about 50% clean!*
* Letter from The Sea Star
A monthly publication for the
marine aquarium hobbyist
by the President - Tim L. Weidauer
Wasatch Marine Society in Salt Lake City, UT.