continuously high enough to support the crab's requirements. The crab's tidal habitat means that it can be found at depths ranging from low tide to approximately 15m. Life cycle/phenology Moulting is a vital part of the Pagurus novizealandiae life cycle in order to grow and develop, for the repair of any damaged limbs or other body parts on its abdomen and in the process of preparing for reproduction. Moulting has to occur so that the crab can mature, the hermit crab sheds its exoskeleton, while the crab is still inside of the small, enclosed space of its shell. Underneath is its new soft shell, it must wait until this has hardened so that it can protect its abdomen for when it leaves to find a new shell. The hardening and thickening process only takes a few days. After the moult this results in an increase in the hermit crabs size so it must find a larger shell to house its body. Their shells also just wear out naturally over time, are damaged by predators or become overgrown. During the searching process there is very high demand for shells as the crabs want to find a new home as quickly as they can so that they are safe from predators. Timing and location is a very important part in determining where to go to undergo the moulting procedure. Both the male and female hermit crab produce inviting sex pheromones. The males are very aggressive during breeding and are known do be quite dominant over the females. The Pagurus novizealandiaes behaviours around the transfer of sperm will be unique to the species but the process will still involve lining up gonopores on the crab's legs and transferring the sperm from the male to female. In terms of egg laying, the female New Zealand hermit crab has two to three pleopods. These carry the fertilised eggs, which are covered in a glue like substance that helps them to stick onto her abdomen. The hermit crab protects the eggs inside of its shell out of dangers reach until the embryo development is fully complete. When the time has come for the eggs to be hatched and released the eggs let off a pheromone that stimulates the female, her movements help to hatch the eggs and they are delivered to the plankton. The larvae take weeks to months to grow, going through several different larval