Occurrence of nematode larvae in terrestrial hermit crab Coenobita scaevola Forskal from Safaga region, Egypt.

The present work represents a new host, the terrestrial hermit crab, Coenobita scaevola Forskal and a new locality records for the larval nematode, Ascarophis from Safaga city. The results showed a direct relationship between host size (carapace length) and the prevalence rate of infected specimens. Larval nematodes were rarely found in specimens smaller than 17.0 mm in carapace length. Also, the fecundity of infected crabs was less than that of normal ones. Two types of host tissue response to infection were represented by muscular and haemocytic capsules around the larval nematodes.