SOLITARY ISLANDS
UNDERWATER
RESEARCH GROUP, INC.

Dardanus guttatus
(Oliver, 1811)

Common Name: Blue Knee Hermit Crab

Distribution: Rare in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, from East Africa to the Philippines, north to Japan, south to Australia. In Australia recorded from the north-west shelf region of Western Australia, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.

Ecological Notes: Commonly found in narrow mouthed cone shells, frequents coral and rocky reefs, depth to 50 m.

Additional Notes: Claws and legs reddish brown with numerous small white spots. Distinctive large blue spot above second leg segment, pale brown eyestalks with black eyes. Carapace blue. Grows to carapace length of around 3 cm.

References: Reef Creature Identification, Tropical Pacific. Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach, New World Publications Inc, Jacksonville, Florida, USA, 2012 edition. p. 161.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Dardanus+guttatus. Accessed 27/07/2019.

Palomares, M.L.D. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. SeaLifeBase. World Wide Web electronic publication.
www.sealifebase.org, version (10/2018). https://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Dardanus-guttatus.html. Accessed 27/07/2019.