the hermitcloak or anemocrab?

In an older post we talked about the association of Dardanus sp. with the anemone C.parasitica. Now I will describe to you the most admirable symbiosis relationship of the Mediterranean, between crabs and anthozoa. Pagurus prideaux is a hermit crab that can grow up to 6cm and lives usually on the sandy parts of cave entrances. Unlike their great population in the Norwegian coast of the Mediterranean you cannot meet them too often here. When they are young they start to have a symbiotic relationship with the Adamsia carciniopados anemone. Because P.prideaux doesn’t feel very comfortable inside the gastropod shell, they prefer to live with “something like a shell” which the anemone helps to build. That way it doesn’t need to change its shell throughout his lifetime, as the shell grows bigger, along with the crab and the anemone. The anemone covers all the sensitive parts of the crab and the tiny shell like a cloak. The anemone is responsible for her buddies defence. For that purpose when they are in danger the anemone produces a lot of bright pink tentacles with stinging cells. These tentacles are called “acontia” (Second photo “where these animals are frightened the crab runs as the anemone spreads its stinking defence). The most noticeable thing in this relationship is the feeding behaviour. The crab feeds the anemone by putting pieces of food near the anemones mouth! It is possible, even after a few hours, the crab pulls the food out of the anemone’s stomach and eats it.