Resumen

SANT'ANNA, Bruno S.; ZANGRANDE, Cilene M.  y  REIGADA, Alvaro L.D.. Utilization of shells of the snail Achatina fulica Bowdich, 1822 (Mollusca, Gastropoda) by the hermit crab Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc, 1802) (Decapoda, Anomura) in the São Vicente Estuary, São Paulo, Brazil. Investig. mar. [online]. 2005, vol.33, n.2, pp. 217-219. ISSN 0717-7178.  doi: 10.4067/S0717-71782005000200010.

Hermit crabs depend on mollusc shells for housing. In this study, an unusual resource is reported for a hermit crab that usually inhabits marine gastropod shells. During a field study conducted from May 2001 to April 2003 in an estuarine area in São Vicente, state of São Paulo, Brazil, 21 individuals of Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc, 1802) were found inhabiting the shells of the terrestrial gastropod Achatina fulica Bowdich, 1822. A. fulica occurs in nearshore grass patches, where occasional contact with sea water kills them, and their shells then become available to the hermit crabs

Palabras clave : Clibanarius; Gastropoda; Anomura; hermit crab; Brazil.