Hermit crab shells instead, as shown by a specimen of "Palaeopagurus vandenengeli" from the Speeton Clay, Yorkshire, UK from the Lower Cretaceous. Hermit crab Hermit crabs are decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea. Most of the approximately 1,110 species possess an asymmetrical abdomen that is concealed in a scavenged mollusc shell carried around by the hermit crab. Most species have long, spirally curved abdomens, which are soft, unlike the hard, calcified abdomens seen in related crustaceans. The vulnerable abdomen is protected from predators by a salvaged empty seashell carried by the hermit crab, into which its whole body can retract. Most frequently,
Tapajós hermit little hermit, and the Tapajós hermit was believed to be most closely related to the black-throated hermit. In 1996 it was suggested that the Tapajós hermit was entirely invalid, and actually represented hybrids between the reddish and streak-throated hermits. In 2009 this hypothesis was shown to be incorrect, and the Tapajós hermit was instated as a valid species. Tapajós hermit The Tapajós hermit ("Phaethornis aethopygus") is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in the south-eastern Amazon in Brazil, and its common name refers to the Tapajós River, which forms the western border of its distribution.