“They are pretty rare to find … “
Recently, nature educator Brianna Varner was strolling along the beach when something unusual caught her eye — what looked like an empty shell was scuttling across the sand. Curious, she picked it up and turned it over, only to be met with the wide-eyed stare of an unexpectedly adorable creature.
The mysterious “empty shell” was actually home to a granulate shellback crab — a rare and fascinating species that, much like hermit crabs, uses abandoned shells for protection. With their soft exoskeletons and incredible camouflage, granulate shellbacks often go unnoticed, blending in perfectly with the seashells scattered along the shore.
“These crabs aren’t new, but they are pretty rare to find,” Varner explained in a TikTok video.
Though one viewer cleverly dubbed them “pancake cousins to hermit crabs,” the two species differ in key ways. For starters, granulate shellbacks prefer flat shells from bivalves like clams and mussels. To hold these shells in place, they use specialized legs on their backs and even suction — a clever adaptation that starts from a young age. As juveniles, they make do with shell fragments until they’re big enough to carry full-sized ones.
Like hermit crabs, they outgrow their homes and periodically upgrade to larger shells. Between shells, they can appear quite vulnerable — but once snug inside, they’re surprisingly cute.
“Their little claws have pink tips, which they often hold up to their face, making it look like they’re blushing,” Varner said.
Native to the shallow waters of the Western Atlantic, these tiny crabs are often swept ashore during storms. So next time you see a shell inching along the sand, don’t be too quick to dismiss it — there might be a charming little crab hiding underneath, just waiting to be discovered.