Extreme Shallow Scuba at the Pier: Crustacean Edition

After seeing so many incredible creatures while snorkeling the Grand Case pier, I had to go back on scuba so I could take photos more easily. I ended up doing a 95 minute dive with a maximum depth of 3 meters yesterday morning. Compared to my evening snorkel (approx. 5pm), there were far fewer decorator crabs out and about, but there were still plenty of creatures to photograph.

One highlight was a mantis shrimp. These amazing creatures have perhaps the most complicated eyes of any organism, and the fastest movement: their unique forearms feature a saddle that acts as a spring to strike out at up to 23 meters/second, allowing them to crush shells and then eat the mollusks inside. There were also various decorator crabs that were out and about, and very camouflaged. Unfortunately, decorator crabs are very hard to identify, largely because they are covered in living organisms.

Sun Anemone Shrimp (<em>Periclimenes rathbunae</em>)
Yellowline Arrow Crab (<em>Stenorhynchus seticormis</em>)
Yellowline Arrow Crab (<em>Stenorhynchus seticormis</em>)
Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster (<em>Panulirus argus</em>)
Mantis Shrimp (Order Stomatopoda)
Mantis Shrimp (Order Stomatopoda)
Mantis Shrimp (Order Stomatopoda)
Mantis Shrimp (Order Stomatopoda)
Mantis Shrimp (Order Stomatopoda)
Mantis Shrimp (Order Stomatopoda)
Green Clinging Crab (<em>Mithrax sculptus</em>)
Sun Anemone Shrimp (<em>Periclimenes rathbunae</em>)
Decorator Crab
Decorator Crab
Decorator Crab
Decorator Crab
Decorator Crab
Decorator Crab
Crab
Decorator Crab

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Diving, Explorations, Pour les Sciences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Extreme Shallow Scuba at the Pier: Crustacean Edition”

  1. Circus of the Oiled Spineless #51 | Deep Sea News Says:
    June 3rd, 2010 at 8:37 am

    […] at Les Fruits de Mer there is a whole crustaceous world out there waiting to be explored at your local […]

  2. Joy K. Says:
    June 14th, 2010 at 9:04 pm

    Your pictures are wonderful. You’re right about the camouflage on the decorator crabs–it’s hard to find the animal under all of the stuff piled on it sometimes.