# Cangrejo ermitaño (Dardanus calidus), Cabo de Palos, España, 2022-07-15, DD 115

- By: Diego Delso
- Date: Taken on 15 July 2022, 21:32:18
- Classification: Photograph
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cangrejo_ermita%C3%B1o_(Dardanus_calidus),_Cabo_de_Palos,_Espa%C3%B1a,_2022-07-15,_DD_115.jpg)
- Rights: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/commons/thumb/0/02/Cangrejo_ermita%C3%B1o_%28Dardanus_calidus%29%2C_Cabo_de_Palos%2C_Espa%C3%B1a%2C_2022-07-15%2C_DD_115.jpg/1920px-Cangrejo_ermita%C3%B1o_%28Dardanus_calidus%29%2C_Cabo_de_Palos%2C_Espa%C3%B1a%2C_2022-07-15%2C_DD_115.jpg
- Who can see it: Kids profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Hermit crab (Dardanus calidus) with 3 sea anemones (Calliactis parasitica) on its back, Cape Palos, Spain. This species of crab can grow to a length of 12 centimetres (4.7 in) and it uses either large gastropod shells, such as those of Tonna galea and Charonia, which it often decorates with one or more sea anemones of the species Calliactis parasitica. The relationship between the sea anemone and the hermit crab is mutualistic: the sea anemone protects the hermit crab with its stings, and benefits from the food thrown up by the hermit crab's movements. Dardanus calidus is a scavenger, feeding on decaying matter from the sea bed. It has been collected from depths greater than 100 metres (330 ft), but is more typically found in shallower water, and it's spread from the East Atlantic (Portugal to Senegal) and Mediterranean Sea.