Vol. 12, No. 1
February/March 2009
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Crustacea Fantastica (Page 4) |
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Grand Central: This crab, a Dardanus brachyops, has not just one anemone on its shell, not just two but three, as well as a handful of barnacles and the tunnels of a polychaete worm. “So often hermit crabs are living, roving communities of organisms,” says Middleton. “And I really love the gesture this crab is making, too. It’s in motion, lifting itself up on its legs, and it’s strong.” Middleton has photographed about seventy-five different hermit crabs representing some fifty different species. “Their personalities vary widely,” she says. “It takes awhile for their character to be revealed, but the longer you look, the more you see a repertoire of behavior. Some hermit crabs are very aggressive, some very shy.” Middleton has never had a hermit crab for a pet. Still, she says, “Photographing so many, I did grow attached to them. But they all had to go home to the ocean.” Dardanus brachyops, one of the largest hermit crabs found in Hawai‘i, can grow to a length of over eight inches; it lives at depths greater than a hundred feet.
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