Diogenes heteropsammicola

Diogenes heteropsammicola
A, an individual in an aquarium, carrying the coral. B, an individual removed from its host coral. Scale bar: 1 mm.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Diogenidae
Genus: Diogenes
Species:
D. heteropsammicola
Binomial name
Diogenes heteropsammicola
Igawa & Kato 2017

Diogenes heteropsammicola is a species of hermit crab discovered in the shallow waters of the Japanese Amami Islands during samplings between 2012 and 2016. D. heteropsammicola is strongly associated with the walking corals, Heterocyathus and Heteropsammia. This hermit crab species is unique in how its members use living, growing coral as shells.