What is "soldier crab"

Hermit \Her"mit\, n. [OE. ermite, eremite, heremit, heremite, F. hermite, ermite, L. eremita, Gr. ?, fr. ? lonely, solitary. Cf. Eremite.]

1. A person who retires from society and lives in solitude; a recluse; an anchoret; especially, one who so lives from religious motives.

   He had been Duke of Savoy, and after a very glorious reign, took on him the habit of a hermit, and retired into this solitary spot.
   --Addison.

2. A beadsman; one bound to pray for another. [Obs.] ``We rest your hermits.''
   --Shak.

3. (Cookery) A spiced molasses cookie, often containing chopped raisins and nuts.

   Hermit crab (Zo["o]l.), a marine decapod crustacean of the family Pagurid[ae]. The species are numerous, and belong to many genera. Called also soldier crab. The hermit crabs usually occupy the dead shells of various univalve mollusks. See Illust. of Commensal.

   Hermit thrush (Zo["o]l.), an American thrush ( Turdus Pallasii), with retiring habits, but having a sweet song.

   Hermit warbler (Zo["o]l.), a California wood warbler ( Dendroica occidentalis), having the head yellow, the throat black, and the back gray, with black streaks.

Fiddler \Fid"dler\, n. [AS. fi[eth]elere.]

1. One who plays on a fiddle or violin.

2. (Zo["o]l.) A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species. The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle, hence the name; -- called also fiddler crab, calling crab, soldier crab, and fighting crab.

3. (Zo["o]l.) The common European sandpiper ( Tringoides hypoleucus); -- so called because it continually oscillates its body.

   Fiddler crab. (Zo["o]l.) See Fiddler, n., 2.

n. Any of several crabs, especially the European or Caribbean hermit crabs (''Pagurus bernhardus'' and ''Coenobita clypeatus'').

Soldier crab is a term used in different parts of the world for different crustaceans:

• Pagurus bernhardus, a European hermit crab
• Coenobita clypeatus, a Caribbean hermit crab
• Dotilla myctiroides, a true crab from South-east Asia
• several species of the genus Mictyris, an Indo-West Pacific genus of crabs