The improvement of survival rate of land hermit crabs Coenobita (Malacostraca: Coenobitidae) in artificial habitat through multispecies and niche heterogeneity approach

Abstract

Land hermit crabs are invertebrates having a unique shell and attractive behavior. In their natural habitat, they live in a group with different species. Meanwhile in an artificial habitat, they are usually maintained solitary, even solitaire that the necessities of social life are not fulfilled. This research was aimed to improve the survival rate of three species of hermit crabs (multispecies) through niche heterogeneity and to analyze their behaviors in an artificial habitat. Two treatments were evaluated including species types (multispecies combination) and habitat types (sand, hiding place, branch, open area). Coenobita perlatus preferred to climb and roam, especially at night, whereas C. brevimanus tend to burrow or hide while C. violacens preferred to hide. The highest survival rate was observed for C. brevimanus (91.66±0.143%) coexisted with two other species. C. perlatus showed the highest survival rate when they were mixed with C. brevimanus (83.61%±0.149). However, the survival was low when they were mixed with C. violacens. This result proved that hermit crabs need to coexist, but with the right species. The coexistence is possible by partitioning the resources.