Wow didn’t expect them to actually make a queue
They’re all trying to move up one shell size, so they position themselves as close to the shell they want as possible. If they weren’t in order, the chance they’d end up shell-less increases dramatically
Felt sad for that last crab who ended with a shell worse than the original :(
They also duke it out if two crabs want the same shell. I recall one video where two crabs were goin round the outside when a third one just moves into the shell. Hilarious at scale, but I bet the first two were pissed. Good thing they weren’t pistol shrimp.
You know I’ve never quite bought the hermit crab shells = houses analogy. They seem much more analogous to armor.
Seems more analogous to clothes than housing — clothes can be “too big” in the sense that the extra size is detrimental to the function, which is somewhat different from houses.
And it’s pretty common to have buy-nothing groups in cities or even at large companies. Got a loooot of hand-me-down clothes for my toddler from friends, family, and randos in the neighborhood.
Yes and no. I’m sure there is an argument to be made that a house can be too big. Bigger houses require more maintenance, cleaning, higher taxes. Downsizing a house is also a retirement strategy.
Also, sometimes you just want a tight fit house to show what you got.
B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-but tHiNk Of AlL tHe LoSt ShArEhOlDeR vAlUe ThO!?
Seriously though, if crabs used currency this would never happen. There would be one crab with all the shells and the other crabs would have to bring food offerings or whatever their currency would be in order to get one.