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Vol. 14, no. 1
February - March 2011
  >>   A Tale of Two Kumu
  >>   Exploring the Noodleverse
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Crustacea Fantastica (Page 3)
Hat trick: The little anemone topping this Dardanus pedunculatus might look like a dapper chapeau, but it plays a far more useful role than simply making its wearer look stylish: The anemone has stinging tentacles, which ward off threatening visitors. The anemone gets something out of the relationship, too— tiny scraps of food the crab casts off as it eats, as well as a free ride across the ocean floor. Given the win-win nature of these partnerships, it’s no surprise that they tend to last: When hermit crabs move from one shell to the next, they detach their anemones and take them along to the new house. When Middleton met this Dardanus pedunculatus in December of 2009, it was on display at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco. Struck by its elegance, she captured it on film. “I have seen crabs spending what seems to me to be an inordinate amount of time tending their anemones,” she says. “It’s like they’re nurturing them, checking them out with their antennae and tending them like a garden.”

 
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