An abundant species of both main islands commonly found under driftwood and dry wrack at the storm line of all sandy beaches and nearby dunes. Groups of up to 10 individuals may be found close together under logs and females tend their eggs or small juveniles in small chambers in the sand adjacent to the log or algal surface. Individuals sometimes may be found on the sand surface if the day is cool and misty, and seen often at night. In rocky areas on the Coromandel Peninsula and further north, also nearby offshore islands, it is able to survive submergence below the high tide mark.