''Dardanus calidus'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

hermit crab Hermit crabs are anomuran Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit c ...

from the East Atlantic (

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

) and

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Description

''D. calidus'' can grow to a length of . It uses large

gastropod shell The gastropod shell is part of the body of many gastropods, including snails, a kind of mollusc. The shell is an exoskeleton, which protects from predators, mechanical damage, and dehydration, but also serves for muscle attachment and calcium ...

s, such as those of '' Tonna galea'' and '' Charonia'' species, which it often decorates with one or more

sea anemone Sea anemones ( ) are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates constituting the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemone ...

s of the species '' Calliactis parasitica''. The relationship with the anemone is truly

symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

, since the anemone gains scraps of food from the hermit crab, while the crab benefits from the anemone's stinging

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work main ...

s deterring

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

Distribution and ecology

''Dardanus calidus'' is a

scavenger Scavengers are animals that consume Corpse decomposition, dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a he ...

, feeding on decaying matter from the sea bed. It has been collected from depths greater than , but is more typically found in shallower water.

Taxonomic history

''Dardanus calidus'' was first described by

Antoine Risso Giuseppe Antonio Risso (8 April 1777 – 25 August 1845), called Antoine Risso, was a naturalist from Nice. Risso was born in the city of Nice in the Duchy of Savoy, and studied under Giovanni Battista Balbis. He published ' (1810), ' (1826) an ...

in 1827, under the name ''Pagurus calidus'', and was transferred to the genus '' Dardanus'' by Jacques Forest in 1958. The larval form ''Glaucothoë rostrata'', described by Edward J. Miers in 1881, has also been assigned to ''D. calidus''.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1442431 Diogenidae Anomura of the Atlantic Ocean Crustaceans described in 1827 Taxa named by Antoine Risso