Australian land hermit crab Australian land hermit crab The Australian land hermit crab ("Coenobita variabilis") is a terrestrial hermit crab species, native to Australia. It is a nocturnal, omnivorous crustacean. They are gregarious and thrive in tropical areas near water. The Australian land hermit crab is endemic to northern parts of Australia including northern Western Australia, Northern Territory and northern Queensland. The Australian land hermit crab ("Coenobita variabilis") reaches a carapace length of . They closely resemble the Pacific hermit crab ("Coenobita compressus") in appearance and they both have a shortened aquatic development stage. Australian hermit crabs are light brown to pale brown in
Hermit (hummingbird) very decurved bills. Many species, including the rufous-breasted hermit, also use the heliconias for nesting, attaching their conical nest to the underside of one of the plant's broad leaves. The taxonomy of some groups has changed significantly in recent years. Apart from those issues discussed at "Phaethornis", a taxonomic problem occurs with the "Threnetes leucurus"/"T. niger" complex. Schuchmann & Hinkelmann (1999) considered the sooty barbthroat a melanistic variant of the "T. leucurus", but as it was described first, its scientific name was adopted for the entire species; pale-tailed barbthroat ("T. niger"). This, however, has not been accepted by all authorities,