Category: CRUSTACEANS


2-22-12 Banded Coral Shrimp from Ron’s Animal Attraction Series (Exhibit)

Filed under: ANIMAL ATTRACTIONS, ARTHROPODS, CRUSTACEANS, TROPICAL MARINE — Leave a comment
February 22, 2012

Phylum Arthropoda,  Subphylum Crustacea, Class Malacostraca, Order Decapoda, Family Stenopodidae

Stenopus sp.

DISTRIBUTION: tropical coral reefs worldwide

HABITAT: Male and female coral banded shrimp pair up when young, claim a territory, and never travel outside the small patch of reef they call home.

APPEARANCE: Strikingly colorful, they have a white body with contrasting red and white bands, bluish legs, slender pincers, and extremely long white antennae. Short spines cover the body and are used for defense. Males are smaller, more slender than females.

DIET: A cleaner shrimp, it removes dead tissue, algae and parasites from fish waving their long antennae to advertise their services. They are known to perform a dancing behavior, perched on a conspicuous spot near their home and whipping the antennae while swaying from side to side.  A fish ready for cleaning remains still in the water, allowing the shrimp to clean the scales and even enter the mouth and gills. They have been known to clean under the fingernails of divers’ hands!

REPRODUCTION: They are committed monogamists mating for life, a breeding strategy rare among most animal groups. Stenopus sp. defend their territory aggressively attacking and sometimes killing intruding shrimps. Mating occurs when the female is receptive. The male approaches her and transfers a packet of sperm to a specialized receptacle on her abdomen. With a few hours, the female begins to produce eggs, which are fertilized as released and then carried on her abdomen until they hatch into larvae, become part of the plankton, and eventually settle.

flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/3067708530/in/set-72157608602469734/

 WORDPRESS SHORTLINK  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-pj

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11-18-11 Porcelain Anemone Crab from Ron’s Crustacean Series

Filed under: ARTHROPODS, CRUSTACEANS — Leave a comment
November 17, 2011

Phylum Arthropoda, Subphylum Crustacea, Class Malacostraca. Order Decapoda, Family Porcellanidae

Neopetrolisthes maculosus

VIDEO LINK http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/5389598848/in/set-72157608602469734

DISTRIBUTION: tropical seas confined to the western Pacific and Indo Australian. 

HABITAT: Often be found hiding in amongst its host anemone.  When disturbed they will hide under the anemone away from predators.  Pairs of the species can be often seen living in the same anemone and quite often they will try to defend their territory from anemonefish although the anemonefish generally prevails due to its large size.

APPEARANCE: Color may be varied. N. maculosus body cream white with ground red peas.  The body is round, claws large and flat, sharp.  Males will generally grow larger than the females and the crab is generally less than 5cm (2 in) in width, 2.5cm length (1 in).

DIET: They feed by combing plankton and other organic particles from the water using long setae (feathery hair or bristle-like structures) on the mouthparts. These animals will also scavenge on the sea floor for detritus.

REMARKS: They share the general body plan of a squat lobster, but their bodies are more compact and flattened, an adaptation for living and hiding under rocks. Porcelain crabs are quite fragile animals, and will often shed their limbs to escape predators, hence their name. The lost appendage can grow back over several moults. Porcelain crabs have large chelae (claws), which are used for territorial struggles, but not for catching food. The fifth pair of pereiopods are reduced and are used for cleaning.

Reef Partners Cluster PR33 Small Giant Clams Exhibit

WORDPRESS SHORTLINK  http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-hd

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