Crab people

Im working on a sci-fi setting and wanted some beings inspired by hermit crabs, emphasis on inspired, I don't want 1-1 hermit crab people, tempting as it is, but I need suggestions and ideas

>Several hermit crab species, both terrestrial and marine, have been observed forming a vacancy chain to exchange shells. When an individual crab finds a new empty shell it will leave its own shell and inspect the vacant shell for size. If the shell is found to be too large, the crab goes back to its own shell and then waits by the vacant shell for anything up to 8 hours. As new crabs arrive they also inspect the shell and, if it is too big, wait with the others, forming a group of up to 20 individuals, holding onto each other in a line from the largest to the smallest crab. As soon as a crab arrives that is the right size for the vacant shell and claims it, leaving its old shell vacant, then all the crabs in the queue swiftly exchange shells in sequence, each one moving up to the next size.
I imagine this would translate to a very neat social convention

>Hermit crabs often "gang up" on one of their species with what they perceive to be a better shell, and pry its shell away from it before competing for it until one takes it over.
Hermit crab grab-gangs!

likely a society consisting mostly of traders but every once in a while groups act very shifty, or even downright predatory in practices, they are also known for being possessive but also swift to upgrade said possession

Maybe work in a bit of jumping spider into the design, or other crustations like pistol or mantis shrimp

Would they make artificial shells for utility uses, like with in built tools or even as vehicles unto themselves or would they only want natural shells?

Hermit crab people that propagate via fear.
How it works:
-Scarycrab people live in scary places
-If someone else than the scarycrabs were to get constantly scared in their territory, a little hermit crab begins to grow inside their head
-Once a fear threshold has been achieved, the brain-crab expands, crushes the host's cranium outwards, and assuming control of the rest of the body
-Then they scare more people so they can propagate
-Their neighbors also have similar abilities, and they're spiders

Sounds like you're looking for the Prador from Neal Asher's Spatterjay and Polity novels.

...

This elder Prador has removed its own legs and replaced them with antigravity devices. Its relative immobility is a sign of wealth, it doesn't need to move. It has all of its needs catered to by its offspring. In the bottom right is one of its children, freshly killed and being eaten. It was maturing, thereby gaining a sex drive and the desire to become head of the household. This cycle of infanticide will continue until the elder Prador grows too old and decrepit, or until one of its offspring manages to hide its budding maturity, then outwits and kills the elder.

If I recall correctly. It's been a while since I read anything by Asher.

Crab thread? Obligatory pic of Crab Gahara-San , just to fuck with people.

Maybe some crab with Humanoid face in its shell/torso?

Maybe, it's ironic I started this thread after being taken by how endearing the hermits can be, while learning why it's bad to have then as pets

Heikegani (平家蟹, ヘイケガニ, Heikeopsis japonica) is a species of crab native to Japan, with a shell that bears a pattern resembling a human face which many believed to be the face of an angry samurai hence the nickname Samurai Crab. It is locally believed that these crabs are reincarnations of the Heike warriors defeated at the Battle of Dan-no-ura as told in The Tale of the Heike.[2]

Depends on their tech level and the kind of tech they use

It is bad? D:
How?

The animals are very specialized, needing 80f temp and level 80 humidity, a mix of salt and fresh water (non sponges, they get moldy and they don't even drink from them) open space, 20 gallon tank at least, sand to dig, not the crap they sell that hardens in humidity, things to climb and friends, they are social animals and live in colonies, with out enough space they will kill eachother from stress and then alone die of depression. Also the painted shells and ta water are toxic to them.

Under proper care a hermit crab can live up to 70 years, most last month's at best

Hear me out, OP: they taste like crab... but talk like people!

Why would you both take this example of maximum cooperation and say it suggests robbery?

Because people want evil crabs, I wanted hermit crab bros

So a society of squishy bodied crab people with a tech based society. They are constant early adopters of their luxury exosuit systems replacing their perfectly good suits every time a better camera or ac unit is released. But they're not wasteful, the old suits are awarded to children and subordinates like titles or plots of land in a feudal system.

So it's a hand me down society, with prestige and utility put side by side, everything used or upgraded until it's too broken to use and even shoddy gear is better then nothing

Exactly. The suits could be pretty valuable in the wider Galaxy as well.

Depends on the shape and modability, if it's a form fitting power armor an AI could be installed to make some pretty neato security droids

So are they literally just man sized hermit crabs?

Maybe the jawas of the setting?