Dardanus pedunculatus was common at many Bali sites. It is one of the anemone hermits, forming a symbiotic relationship with the anemone Calliactis polypus, multiple individuals of which attach to and live on the mollusk shells inhabited by the hermits. The stinging cells of the anemone presumably protect the crab from predation by octopus, while the anemone in return receives mobility and potentially protection from slower anemone-eating predators such as the seastars Culcita novaeguinea and Acanthaster solaris. The partnership is important enough to both of the parties that when the hermit moves to a new shell, as it must do in order to grow, it will transfer the anemones from the old to its new shell. The anemones, which adhere so tightly to the shell that they are virtually impossible for a person to remove intact, will readily let go and allow themselves to be transferred by the crab.
Created 10 February 2021
Updated 14 July 2024