Monday, March 30, 2009

Hermit Crabs at a Nude Beach

Hermit Crab in Skull by ~hwango

Hermit crabs are decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea [1]. They are not closely related to true crabs. Hermit crabs are quite commonly seen in the intertidal zone, for example in tide pools.
Most
species of hermit crabs have long soft abdomens which are protected from predators by the adaptation of carrying around a salvaged empty seashell, into which the whole crab's body can retract. Most frequently hermit crabs utilize the shells of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. The tip of the hermit crab's abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the snail shell. As the hermit crab grows in size, it has to find a larger shell and abandon the previous one.
This habit of living in a
second hand shell is what gave rise to the popular name "hermit crab", which is a reference to the idea of a hermit living alone in a small cave.

Shell theme inspired by Flowing Heat.



Shell competition
Hermit crabs fighting over a shell in a Central California tidepool
As hermit crabs grow they require larger shells. Since suitable intact
gastropod shells are a limited resource, there is frequently strong competition among hermit crabs for the best available shells. The availability of empty snail shells at any given place depends primarily on the relative abundance of gastropods in the right range of sizes, compared to the demographics of the population of hermit crabs.
An equally important issue is the frequency of organisms which prey upon gastropods but leave the shells intact
[2]

. A hermit crab with a shell that is too small cannot grow as fast as hermit crabs with well fitting shells, and is more likely to be eaten as it cannot withdraw completely into the shell [3].
For some larger
marine hermit crab species, having one or more sea anemones growing on the shell can be very useful, because the anemones tend to scare away fish and other marine predators that might otherwise attack the crab. The sea anemone also benefits because it is well positioned to consume loose fragments of the hermit crab's meals. Furthering this mutualism, sea anemones can be transferred to a new shell when the hermit crab changes shells.

Prague's Franz Kafka International Named World's Most Alienating Airport

16 comments:

shell/Flowy/Mowy(V) said...

I was going to sleep then I saw this drawing and I snapped awake... skull/crab... yowww... it's so cool...

I think I'll stay up for a while...

### blurst @@@

Akira said...

Hi Flowy,
Have you joined Technorati yet?
Everyone needs helpful themes this time of year.

shell/flo/mo/slo/glo(V) said...

Hi Akira...

I'm worried that I;ll drown with stuff if I join... I'm kinda slow and I like to spend time making new hairdos... would I have time for that new thing and hairdos?

Akira said...

It's not like Facebook, Twitter and all of that crap - you don't have to do anything, but your pings are registered and circulated.
Most of my blogs ping themselves;).

Flowy/shell/Mowy(V) said...

Ping,,, ping,,, ping,,,

That's cool...

I'm still trying to find the perfect fishnets... I wish I had a tool for that... like I'm interested in Hungarian fishies... or even Romanian ones...earth colored...

You have a "10" authority... it should be a "1,000,000"

Akira said...

I could be as cool as Britney Spears if I just worked on those Technorati points!
K, I have all sorts of Eastern European fishnets to post on Nuclear Tentacles, but I need to trim my bangs and take a shower first.
Thx for being so FLOWY!!!
You're AWESOME!

Flowy/shell/Mowy(V) said... said...

Oh Akira... fishies... yah/yah...

You're awesome... do you ever wear headbands for your bangs?

Flowy/shell/Mowy(V) said... said...

Goodnight Akira... I'm going to my little shell...

Confused Lobster said...

Flowy is a flowing angel!
Thanks for your much needed positive influence.

*Note to self:
1. Ask for time off around Easter, because you're falling apart inside.
2. See if you can find a carpool to a Dharma talk at TCCW.

Akira said...

Anger, Hate and Delusion.
I'm always fighting that, but somehow in the process creating it too.
Much to the disturbance of my Grandma who I hugged and said the rosary to when she died, I said I was still a Buddhist. Even though my Zendo Student experience added to my overall disillusionment.
I still believed in the Buddha, berries, lavender and poppies, I can't think of any Buddhist war - unlike every other major religion...Yet I held my gram and told her I loved the Virgin Mother too - and then she died.

shell/Flowy/Mowy(V) said...

Hi Akira...

Love is the ultimate flow... and it sounds like you helped your Gram flow on to the next state...

The biggest things in the universe are simple... but I miss seeing them cause I'm looking for complicated states/answers/reasons... I try and be flowy then I can see how everyone else is flowing around ... or stuck... I used to be stuck... but I'm happy now... spring is here... animal spirits are coming out of the ground...

kuato said...

Davy Jones, Aye!

wagga said...

Bumper Swiss spaghetti harvest

Shell/Flowy/Zoey(V) said...

I love first times... spaghetti bushes...

"This is believed to be one of the first times the medium of television has been used to stage an April Fools Day hoax..."

Uhmmm A-Fools... I guess I should think something up...up...pup...

Miss/Flowy(V) said...

I would like to hear my heart singing in a Sutra...

Miss/Flowy(V) said...

I found Edgar again... you won't believe where...