Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab

Clibanarius tricolor

Don't let the small size of the Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab fool you. As a voracious scavenger, this omnivore can get into the smallest crevices and openings within live rock to consume nuisance algae including hair algae and cyanobacteria. While doing so, Clibanarius tricolor also helps aerate sand substrate, thereby encouraging growth and activity of beneficial bacteria.

Also known simply as the Blue Leg Hermit Crab, this member of the Diogenidae family is a colorful and reef-safe addition. Named after its bright and colorful red-banded blue legs, the Blue Leg Hermit Crab has claws of equal size and makes its home in abandoned snail shells. Take note that when the Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab is looking for a new home or if food supplies are insufficient, this minute scavenger may attack snails to obtain the shell for its home or eat the snails for food.

Supplement the diet of the Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab with dried seaweed if insufficient algae are present. Though an efficient scavenger, and due to its small size, the Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crabs should be kept in groups for larger aquarium systems.