Multiplying Hermits???

[teetee]

About three months ago I added about 40 South American red leg hermit crabs for my 135g reef. They were all small. Quite a few have grown considerably since. They happily accepted new and larger shells that I placed in the tank. Some hermits are still small. In fact they seem smaller then when I first purchased them. Could these be offspring? Is that possible in captivity? Unfortunately since my set-up is large with a ton of live rock and hiding places, I can't get a count on the hermits. Has anyone had hermits breed in their system? Curious to know. tt

 

[slick]

I think they are some of the same ones that you first got. I think that looking at the bigger ones makes you think your small ones are smaller than before. But it would be cool if they did multiply.

 

[teetee]

Thanks for your replies folks. Slick, there is a definite difference in size between the smaller and larger ones. The large ones are four times larger. That is quite significant. I wonder if the size difference is one of gender?