A sea anemone found off Japan does not just live on a species of crab, but actually grows its host’s shell like a home extension
, hermit crabs crawl around sporting what look like pearly pink flowers on their shells. But these are not floral arrangements – they are members of a newly discovered species of sea anemone,This kind of sea anemone and hermit crab cohabitation is not unique: dozens of anemone species live exclusively with hermit crabs.
A hermit crab was filmed in an aquarium spending almost two days pushing its anemone into letting go of the old shell and moving to a new shell.And they will not just build extensions for anyone. “This sea anemone is home for only one hermit crab species,” says Akihiro Yoshikawa, from Kagoshima University, who discovered the anemone when several were brought up in trawlers’ nets from 100 to 400 metres down.
Yoshikawa named the sea anemone calcifer after a character in one of his favourite childhood films, the 2004 animation Howl’s Moving Castle. The film is an adaptation of the fantasy novel of the same name in which Calcifer, a fire demon, is bound by a magical pact to the wizard Howl’s castle, which moves about from place to place – much like a hermit crab.But moving one’s sea anemone is no easy task.
Some of the answer may be that the anemone’s expanded shell is not an ideal home for the hermit crabs. “I think the crabs consider the anemone’s shell as a temporary home,” says Yoshikawa, noting that the extended structure “is very thin and not strong compared with the snail shell”.Plus, moving house is a good way to get rid of unwanted visitors. Hundreds of other species live on and inside hermit crab shells, but not all of them are welcome.
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