By Any Other Name...

We couldn't find Momma Daddy Crab's food - a small white bottle labeled Hermit the Crab food - so my four year old and I ran out the other day to get some. The nice man at the pet supply store helped me find another bottle, and seeing as how he was already helpful, I told him that I was a bit worried about the crab as all it does it stay in its shell. He looked at me for a beat, and then said, "It's a hermit crab. They stay in their shells. It's a hermit." Okay, how the literalness of their name escaped me, I have no idea. Especially considering that there is a long line of recluses in my family, like any good Southern clan. My son and I got in the car, and the issue of pronoun/gender came up about Momma Daddy Crab. I asked my son what he thought it was. He said, "I don't know. It's a crab." Clearly, I am the least clued in on this er, animal. Okay, it's not an animal, sea creature?? That night, as I was putting my son to bed, he said, "I've decided to rename Momma Daddy Crab since we don't know if it's a boy or girl." I said, "Great, what have you picked?" He said, "Woman Man Whatever It Is Momma Daddy Crab." So there it is. Perhaps this is an indication that the next pet should be gender identifiable.
xo
PS I will post a picture of said hermit crab - or a picture of his shell - when I can find the cord that makes the pictures go from my camera to the computer. Or however you describe that.