Hermit Crabs in Fiji

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jadewolf
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Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by jadewolf » Tue Apr 03, 2018 9:00 am

So, last October I spent a week on a dive trip in Fiji. My guest bure lawn was crawling with crabs! Mostly ruggies, but there were also some land crab burrows and plenty of ghost and shore crabs too. Took a ton of photos. Probably the only weirdo at the resort who was constantly staring at the ground looking for hermits. :D

Stayed on a little island called Beqa (pronounced Mbenga) off of Viti Levu (the main island).

I found some of the tiniest crabs I've ever seen! It became my goal to find the smallest one on the island.

So.. I present... the Crabs of Beqa Island!

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I think that last guy was the smallest. But it was a tossup, really!

A few slightly bigger ones, but still ridiculously, adorably small...

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And here's a bigger one...

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I have more photos of the larger ones somewhere, but can't find them at the moment. I probably photographed at least 50 different individuals over the week. They were all very patient with me as I picked them up for their photo shoots. Except one, who immediately pinched the crap out of me. :lol: I left him alone after that, ha!

And then I found this pair mating late at night on my back porch...

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That boy was so hairy! :D After they were done, he guarded her a while. Then they split up. He seemed a little love-drunk and didn't run away from me and my flashlight. If he were human, I'd imagine he was sitting there coolly smoking a cigarette in the afterglow. ;)

But oh my, what my fellow divers must have thought of me... crouched in the grass late at night with a flashlight watching crabs get it on. :lol:

I did notice that the crabs were pretty small overall on this island. And to me, it seemed tied to a lack of available shells. The largest crabs (barely medium sized) were in terrible shells. Crammed into shells far too small and broken, with big holes and bits of their abdomen showing through. I didn't find many crab-suitable shells along the beach, so I imagine competition must be pretty fierce. I'm guessing that's a big limiting factor to them there.

One of the other guests showed me a photo on her phone of a much larger crab she had seen on the beach. It looked very much like an Indo. I spent the rest of the week hunting for it, but never could find it.

Other Crabs...

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There were land crab burrows everywhere. They were extremely shy, though. If I peeked into their holes, all I saw was a scurry of legs disappearing deeper underground. If I laid still in my hammock for a long time, this one would tentatively sneak out to look around though. Tried my best to get a photo, but this was all I could get.

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This little sand crab I spotted in the late evening. He looked very startled by my camera flash, ha!

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There were tons of these shore crabs clinging to my seawall late at night. This poor guy was missing all his legs on one side, but seemed to be doing okay nevertheless.

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Here's another one of those guys!

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And here we have the Common Chair Crab. I would LOVE to have a set of these crab chairs! There was a table to match, too!

There were fiddler crabs, too. But they were too shy to catch on film, despite my best efforts.

And here's a little video of a ruggie down by the beach: https://youtu.be/TzsB3M1DLT0

And.. not crabs.. but the reason I went to Fiji. Diving with Tiger Sharks: https://youtu.be/GDKXVL7mihI

And if you'd like to see what the rest of Fiji looks like: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jadewolf/ ... 854341898/

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Moonlightdreams
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by Moonlightdreams » Tue Apr 03, 2018 11:00 am

Oh. My. GOSH. :D They're all so tiny and adorable! It's terrible about their shells, though. :( That sounds like an amaaaaazing trip!
Loving owner of two hermit crabs and two dogs! Call me Moon, Icy, Kermit, or anything you'd like! sheldon_and_peanut (hermit crabs) and sisterchins (dogs) on Instagram.

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jadewolf
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by jadewolf » Tue Apr 03, 2018 4:12 pm

It was! :D Fiji was beautiful!

I cannot tell you how tempted I was to try and sneak a couple Ruggies home in my pockets. ;) They were such sweet-tempered little critters!

If I ever go back, I'm equally tempted to bring a sack of nice shells for them. Tapestry turbans are native to the region (I saw a couple /gorgeous/ ones on my dives). Maybe just bring them a nice handful of extras to help the little guys out.

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aussieJJDude
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by aussieJJDude » Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:35 am

Those are fab pics!
I've been meaning to post my not so recent adventures for a while now, maybe this will give me a good kick in the pants to do so!

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GotButterflies
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by GotButterflies » Wed Apr 04, 2018 4:47 pm

WOW...WOW...WOW...Absolutely STUNNING pictures!! You are very talented!! Thank you for sharing these! I loved the hermit crab pictures, and then as an added bonus you shared the Tiger Shark video, and then the views of the island and underwater...GORGEOUS!!! I want to go to FIJI!!! (But I'll skip free diving with the sharks like that...I'll take a cage please) :)
Truly blessed to have incredible creatures, wonderful friends and my amazing family in my life!! I'm very thankful & grateful for all of them! www.thehealthyhermit.com

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Madi.crab
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by Madi.crab » Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:56 am

Those little crabs were adorable! I would try and sneak them home as well. I've never seen hermits mate either! I've always wanted to see hermits in the wild have never been somewhere that has wild ones. Those photos were beautiful.


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Hermie225
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by Hermie225 » Mon Apr 09, 2018 5:59 pm

Great pictures! Those tiny hermits are so adorable. Very cool to see them up close in the wild like that, thanks for sharing your adventures

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LadyJinglyJones
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by LadyJinglyJones » Mon Apr 09, 2018 6:10 pm

AMAZING pics... I love this post! And the teeniest! :love:: :hearts:
"Gaze upon the rolling deep..."
Quince the fat tailed gecko; Amazonian minnows; and now Harry & Luis, Bede & Aster, Chandra & Jace, Pax, & Piccolo, my adopted PPs.
RIP Vegita :(

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Kermie16
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by Kermie16 » Sun Apr 29, 2018 7:01 am

WOW!! Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful pictures!!! All of the pictures and the tiger shark video were awesome!!!


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jadewolf
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by jadewolf » Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:16 pm

Thanks again, y'all! Sorry it took me so long to reply. Life's been busy. :)

My next trip is to Roatán, Honduras next month and I hope to come back with a ton of wild PP pictures this time!

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soilentgringa
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by soilentgringa » Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:50 pm

jadewolf wrote:Thanks again, y'all! Sorry it took me so long to reply. Life's been busy. :)

My next trip is to Roatán, Honduras next month and I hope to come back with a ton of wild PP pictures this time!
That would be awesome!

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mjjluver
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by mjjluver » Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:34 pm

enjoyed the photos! they are adorable!

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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by GotButterflies » Fri Jul 13, 2018 1:27 pm

Can't wait to see the new pictures! Hope you have a wonderful trip next month!
Truly blessed to have incredible creatures, wonderful friends and my amazing family in my life!! I'm very thankful & grateful for all of them! www.thehealthyhermit.com

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AwesomeHermit
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by AwesomeHermit » Sat Jul 14, 2018 10:13 pm

I can't see the pictures
One or hopefully two Clypeatus
Goodbye my little E. See you soon.
Bye Fred. You lasted almost 4 years with me. Hope you're with my E now! See you soon Reeba as well. I can't believe I lost you only after a month.
Crabbing for 4 years!

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HHIhermies1004
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Re: Hermit Crabs in Fiji

Post by HHIhermies1004 » Mon Jul 30, 2018 6:23 pm

Thank you so much for posting you pictures!! beautiful and amazing.
Hi, My name is Kristine
Hermit Crab Family includes 7 Hermies
JACK, BARBOSA, WILL, and DAVY JONES are E's.
3 PP's - Sao Feng, Tia Dama, and Elizabeth swan.

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