The Pacific Hairy Hermit resembles Kame a lot except for the white instead of blue bands on their legs, and white striped antennae. Hairy Hermit are normally found in the same Pacific tidepool habitat, and are sometimes look very similar. In fact, many juveniles of the same species are very confusing to look at. This is because Blueband hermits and Hairy hermits both possess white stripes when they are larvae. Hermit crabs are extremely vital to our tidepool habitat. While feeding on food our crabs they eat, they'll also distract crabs from eating our native snails. Hermits inhabit the same shells as the snails, and if a crab tries to eat one, it will be fooled. Hermit Crabs also help regulate algae populations in the tank. Although our native mussels primarily filter the tidepool's water, snails and hermit crabs graze on the algae and therefore reduce the harmful bacteria and make the water cleaner.
In the video above, a garden slug somehow made it's way into a tidepool up north in Marin. This wild hermit crab is eating the slug. The hermit crabs are scavengers, and will eat anything, from slugs to whole dead birds!
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