In Japanese waters, a newly described anemone lives on the back of a hermit crab
- A newly described anemone species has been found off the coast of Japan and appears to live exclusively on the shells of one hermit crab species.
- First-of-its-kind video recordings of the hermit crab and anemone duo show the hermit crab moving to a new shell and spending more than 40 hours poking, peeling and dragging the anemone to come along.
- Researchers believe the hermit crab and anemone are in an obligate symbiotic relationship, or that they need each other to survive.
- The anemone eats falling debris and protects the hermit crab from parasites and predators, and in turn, gets to hitch a ride to fresh feeding grounds.
In deep waters off the coast of Japan, a hermit crab is wearing haute couture. On its shell is the new-to-science anemone species Stylobates calcifer, named after the fire demon Calcifer from the novel and Studio Ghibli film Howl’s Moving Castle.
A research team led by Akihiro Yoshikawa, a professor from the University of Tokyo, collected the anemone-hermit crab duo from the sea floor at a depth of 100 to 400 meters (330 to1,300 feet) in the sea of Kumano and Suruga Bay on the Pacific side of Japan. Researchers have published descriptions of the new anemone species in
The Biological Bulletin.
The newly described anemone species appears to live exclusively on the shells of the hermit crab species
Pagurodofleinia doederleini, a hint that these two species are in an obligate symbiotic relationship, or that they need each other to survive.
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