A recent research tried to probe how hermit crabs socialize. It has been claimed by a team from the University of California Berkeley that whenever they come close to each other, then somehow they manage to accept each others' shells in order to protect themselves.

As per the report, there are some 800 types of hermit crab species, and shells for them come easily from the ocean, while for land hermit crabs, shells are always in shortage. Land hermit shells make sure they incubate themselves in these shells, thereby making it almost double the size.

Though hermit crabs look pretty much cute, the terrestrials types of hermit crab are not so sweet. If biologist Mark Laidre from the University of California, Berkeley is to be heard, they don't like to accept any old left out shell, instead they somehow manage to remodel their shells. They even have the tendency to feel bad if someone else have a better shell. Thus once they come in a group, they somehow trick to get the best shell smartly.

"The one that gets yanked out of its shell is often left with the smallest shell, which it can't really protect itself with", said Professor Laidre. "For hermit crabs, it's really their sociality that drives predation".