Hermit crabs: The social animal that will help its peers come out of their shells (by force)

You know what a hermit crab looks like. Those beady eyes just slightly sticking up from the shell of a snail make this critter one of the cutest animals you can find on the P.E.I. shoreline (move over, plovers).

But did you know that besides being the cutest, they're also the coolest?

"These animals are super fascinating," says Jeff Clements, an aquatic biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and expert on all things fly under the sea. "There's all kinds of other super cool behaviours that they do."

Hermit crabs are members of a group of crabs known as pagurids — animals that live in the empty shells of snails.

You can find hermit crabs in many different habitats, including sandy or muddy beaches and along rocky shores, especially those that have tide pools.

"They like to stay wet.... You may see them roaming around on the dry shore, but you're more likely to find these if you're walking ankle-deep in water," Clements said.

They eat pretty much anything they can get their hands — er, claws — on. That includes detritus (the poop and bits of dead body parts from other organisms; see the lugworm), plants and other animals.

"Because they're so versatile, hermit crabs can actively predate on some animals if they can manage to capture and kill them," Clements said.

"You'll often find them scavenging on the carcasses of dead animals that are floating around on the bottom of the sediment there, such as crabs, and they'll eat the bits of dead plants and animals that are floating about."

If you come across one, you're also likely running into a hundred of so of its best friends. Hermit crabs are pretty sociable creatures, with complex mating rituals and other social behaviours that make the animals "pretty neat," in the words of our aquatic biologist.

So let's talk about shells.

You can find three types of hermit crabs on P.E.I. beaches: the Acadian hermit crab, the hairy hermit crab, and the long-wristed hermit crab. They're often found in periwinkle or moon snail shells, but they can live in many different types.

Clements said these species are difficult to tell apart, with only a few distinguishing features on their heads and claws.

But that doesn't mean they're all the same, for hermit crabs are also unwavering stylists.