Meet the mega son of Zeus and Electra @ Pulau Hantu
Dardanus refers to the son of Zeus and Electra in Greek mythology, while megistos is the superlative of the Greek word mega,
means the largest.
The Giant spotted hermit crab, Dardanus Megistos, is also known as the White-spotted Hermit crab. They are one of the more colourful hermit crabs!
Found locally in coral reef, lagoons, rocky platforms, sand and seagrass beds, from littoral and subtidal zones to deep waters, at depths up to 50 m.
They can reach a body length of up to about 25 cm!
They are quite fearless of divers and will sit and preen themselves out in the open not at all bothered by the diver.
They are carnivorous and although they are mainly scavengers, they will break open and eat any mollusc that they can open.
The Males chemically detect when a female is fertile and approach them, often holding onto the female until she is ready to mate with them. Once the eggs are fertilised they are kept on the underside of the female inside their shell. When the eggs hatch the larvae are planktonic until they are large enough to find small shells..