RED LEG (SCARLET HERMIT CRAB) / PAGURITES CADENATI

The red reef hermit crab grows to a length of about 1.5 inches. The limbs and chelae (pincers) are smooth and hairless, and the left chela is slightly larger than the right one; the abdomen is unarmoured and is concealed in the recesses of the gastropod mollusc shell that protects it. The general colour of this hermit crab is bright red with the exception of the antennae, which are deep red, and the elongated eyestalks, which are yellow or yellowish-orange. The corneas of the eyes are yellowish-green. It could be confused with the orange-claw hermit crab (Calcinus tibicen) which is similar in size, but that species is generally darker in colour and has white patches near the tips of its limbs.