So what do you think you see here? A rock? A fish buried into the sand? A... cartoon? Well, you'd be wrong on all accounts. That right here would be a crab. An incredibly cool crab. The one and only Shamefaced Crab. He's so embarrassed by his face that he has cover it up with his claws. How sad, right? Wrong!
The reason their claws are hiding their face is a common thing between crabs actually, only these crabs have larger than normal claws. Most crabs have their claws held out in front and usually they don't cover their faces entirely... except for the shamefaced crab, hence the name. Their claws are so large due to their choice of prey: They LOOOOOOVE snails. And, as we all know, snails aren't exactly easy to... open? I guess that's the right word for it. So their claws are built like special tools to get the job done. Specifically, they're built like a can opener.
Can you see the right claw (on the left hand side) in this picture? You would think that that part at the bottom was it's tiny claws but it's actually a pair of nodules to crack open the shell of a snail while the other claw holds and turns the snail. These nodules are only found on the right claw of ALL shamefaced crabs! Which is a strange characteristic seeing as all crabs, as well as lobsters, will have a larger, more dominant claw but it doesn't have specific side. So usually there are righties and lefties.... but not in this case, they're always righties.
Not only do they use these claws for opening food and protecting their face (clearly), they also use them to burrow. It might sound a little weird, but they use their claws like boards out in front of them, pushing sand away and then scurrying the rest of their body into the sand. They do this repeatedly until they are fully covered with only their eyes and antennae sticking out to find prey. If you can't really picture that, check out the video below, that should help. Unfortunately for the crab pictured, the tank it is in does not have deep enough sand for it to hide fully under so it's stuck half way out and staring at us blankly.
Personally, I think these little beauties are pretty cool and don't get the recognition they deserve like the hermit crab or the fiddler crab. They should be just as celebrate! I mean look at that face! It's adorable. Even if it is all hiding behind those ginormous claws.
If you have any comments or questions, make sure to leave them! Would love to hear from my viewers!!!
Hope you enjoyed! make sure to check back for more Marine Biology Facts coming up in the following weeks!
No comments:
Post a Comment