The Dresser Crab
It is rare that I ever see anything that makes me want to put up with the hassle of maintaining a salt-water aquarium, but these guys did it for me. I should also admit that when I first saw this video, I did not believe they were real. So here’s the Wiki on Naxia tumida:
Naxia tumida
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Majidae
Genus: Naxia
Species: N. tumida
Binomial name: Naxia tumida (Dana, 1852)
Synonyms: Halimus tumidus Dana, 1852Naxia tumida, the little seaweed crab, dresser crab, or decorator crab, is a small crab of the family Majidae (with a carapace up to 4 centimetres or 1.6 inches in diameter) that is common in rocky intertidal and subtidal areas on the temperate coasts of Australia, including parts of Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia. It is usually found covered in seaweed that acts as camouflage, attached to the hooks on its shell. It attaches the algae or seaweed with a secretion that becomes adhesive when hardened.
Naxia tumida was discovered by the United States Exploring Expedition and described by James Dwight Dana, originally under the name Halimus tumidus. The syntypes appear to have been lost.
For other crabs also known as ‘decorator crabs’, see Decorator crab.
That is so cool! I have never heard of this crab. But that was so very interesting!
Telegraph: Videos of the Deep Blue:
http://theinfinityplane.com/telegraph-media-group-limited-2012/
Aquascapes: http://theinfinityplane.com/aquascapes/ & The Annual “Art of the Planted Aquarium” Competition: http://theinfinityplane.com/the-annual-art-of-the-planted-aquarium-competition