People often ask “what else” I have in the reef, aside from seahorses: Three emerald crabs–who have no names, because it’s difficult to tell them apart, and also because they haven’t been with me long enough to receive or deserve them. If and when they become distinguishable, either in appearance or by behavior, we’ll give them names. Three porcelain crabs–Ripley, Small, and Alien Queen–who, though not “true crabs,” are easy to spot and smart enough to eat from the feeding tube I use with the seahorses. I also have about two dozen tiny red-legged hermits, which inhabit shells that range
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Meet the Porcelain Crabs: Ripley, Small, and the Alien Queen
Although not actually “true crabs” (they’re crustaceans, but from the family Porcellanidae) porcelain crabs resemble “real” crabs to a degree that most people can’t actually tell the difference. Porcelain crabs have flat, round bodies–much like those of real crabs–which evolved over time to fit easily into crevices and under rocks–the creature’s preferred living quarters in the wild. You can find them living in almost every ocean (except the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans), but look carefully–the average porcelain crab has a body less than an inch in diameter. Some 277 species of porcelain crabs have been recorded, and fossils suggest the porcelain crab has been around since at
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