Archive for the ‘Crustaceans’ Category
Sunday, July 18th, 2010
Here he is again carrying his very distinctive red, tube style home.
Hermit crabs or Soldier Crabs are usually very particular about their shells. Shell switching is not uncommon as the crab searches for the perfect shell. Barry and I had laid out four shells we had and it seemed that his preference was for the West Indian Top Snail shell.
We helped him shed the red tube and he gradually worked his way into his new home.
The hermit crab has four tiny legs to hold the shell in place…a fourth leg that clasps the shell and the fifth that holds the shell.
Here's a close up of the Hermit Crab's fourh and fifth legs that grasp onto the shell.
Another view of the additional much smaller legs as the Hermit Crab moves into his new shell home.
In the wild, Hermit or Soldier Crabs feed off of coconut trees, leftovers from humans, and they will scavenge dead organisms, such as fish and other crabs. By the way, if they can’t find an adequate shell, they will use such man made things as plastic glasses, tiny one person jam jars, PVC pipes or whatever they can scrounge.
OK..........finally it's time to move in !
Almost set to go and settling in.
Home Sweet Home and we're on the road again.
Hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed photographing this little guy and helping him along in finding his new home.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Caribbean Hermit crab, crab, Crabs, Hermit crab, land crabs, shell, Shells, Soldier crab, West Indian Top Snail
Posted in Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »
Saturday, July 17th, 2010
Four new homes lie ready and waiting for this Hermit Crab I found in our wild area today
This little Soldier Crab was maneuvering quite easily with his four inch, closed pipe for a home. Barry watched him while I ran to get my camera and play realtor by looking for some shells that might make a new, more traditional home for him.
The reddish pipe or tube like container didn't look all that comfortable.
Checking out a Tulip Shell for size and fit??
Here's a West Indian Top Snail shell that our hermit crab is taking a look at.
Hermit crabs are the only crabs that are able to walk forwards!!
This shell is also known as the Magpie Shell and is a species of large edible sea snail
The West Indian Top Snail shell is very popular indeed as “housing” for the large land hermit crab species and over the years we have gathered quite a few for occasions such as this. They are found at water’s edge and the snail is known as “wilks” or sometimes as “whelks” in the islands here where they are popular food item.
Tomorrow’ post will show the hermit crab moving into his new “shell” home.
Marta
Tags: Caribbean Hermit crab, crab, Crabs, Hermit crab, hermit crabs, sea snail, seashells, shell, Shells, Soldier crab, Tulip Shell, West Indian Top Snail, whelks, wilks
Posted in Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
A perfect afternoon on and in the water with the boys pulling us up to the sandbar..........it simply was the best
We both had family visiting so it was an opportunity to take a leisurely run out to the sand bar at Bonefish Point. We took off from our marina at Harbour Club Villas. There’s a deep water channel ( 12 feet deep or so ) to the right of the sandbar and all of a sudden you’re in a foot of water. The guys put the anchor out and then decided to walk it into the shallows.
Barry floats along in the clear water and enjoys the best view in the world
We saw some beautiful sea cushions ( see my previous post) and some smaller white starfish. Laura explored some rocks in the shallows and found numerous hermit crabs.
Laura shows me her find.............tiny little shells with crabs in them
Here's a small hermit crab just walking along the edge of the water
Barry, Tina and Sheldon stayed in the water pretty much all afternoon.
We all cooled off by staying in the water beer in hand. The Bonefish Point sandbar is on the south west tip of the island and accessible by road now. It never used to be……….the only way of getting here a few years ago was by boat or doing an excursion with Capt. Bill of Ocean Outback. This trip by the way is a great way of seeing the south shoreline. Hope you get to see this part of our island too.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Bonefish Point, Bonefish Point sandbar, Crabs, Harbour Club Villas, hermit crabs, Marina, sandbar, sea cushion, sea star, Shells, starfish
Posted in Animals, Beaches, Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Marinas, Places to go, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands, Underwater | No Comments »
Friday, July 17th, 2009
The eastern end of Long Bay beach is so quiet and peaceful
I can’t believe that it took me this long to discover another little piece of paradise. Several weeks ago when Yogi and Pat were visiting, we stopped to take a look at this area of Long Bay. I had heard that this was where the kite boarders went for lessons because of the shallow nature of the water and also, sadly in my opinion, another new development (5 stories high!!!!) is going to be built.
The water was like a mirror and storm clouds were threatening.
It was late in the afternoon so the water was warm and so very calm with not a breath of wind. We just lazed in the shallows enjoying the last few rays of the sun as storm clouds brewed out at sea.
Footprints outlined in the sand along the shoreline
Yogi took a walk and I snapped this photo of the footprints he left behind and the deepening shadows. I just love this time of day for picture taking. He called us to come and see what he had found…………a blue crab in the water. I took several photos and then realized that my digital takes photos under the water……….it just goes against the grain to put a camera into the water and friends tease me as I always hold it up high trying not to get it wet. When we got home and I put the photos up onto the computer, I was again surprised as the photos showed not one but two crabs who were mating.
A blue crab mating pair is called a "doubler"
The male cradle carries the female for two to seven days until molting is imminent. This serves two purposes: the male protects the female from predators and it assures that the male will be present when the female’s shell is soft and she is able to mate.
The male blue crab defends his mate as my camera came closer
Once the female molts, the male releases her. She’ll only mate this one time in her life while her shell is soft. The male turns her upside down so that their abdomens are touching and copulation will last some five to twelve hours. Once again the female is clasped and cradle carried until her shell has had a chance to harden. The male will continue to mate with others while the female won’t release any eggs until 2 to 9 months after mating.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: beach, Beaches, blue crab, blue crabs, crab, Crabs, kite boarders, Long Bay, Long Bay beach, mating blue crabs, mating crabs
Posted in Animals, Beaches, Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Places to go, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Underwater | No Comments »
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
A close look at shells attached to the rocks along the rocky shoreline
Yesterday’s boat trip to South West Harbour Bluff at low tide gave me an opportunity to explore the rocky shore line close to the pirates cave and Osprey Rock. I took photos of these tiny shells clinging onto the rocks but it was difficult with the water flowing over.
Beautiful shells on the rocks revealed interesting critters (check out the blue colour) that I discovered once I had put them up on my computer.
Can you pick out the small three coloured hermit crabs peeking out from the shells? These tiny crabs called Clibanarius Tricolor are found in tidal pools and on intertidal and subtidal rocks. They have blue legs with red stripes and I didn’t even notice this when I was taking the photos. These shells were very pretty and in the close up you can see the blue striped legs coming out of two of the shells.
Tidal rocks had clusters of shells and to my surprise, small tricoloured blue hermit crabs in them.
Blue legs with red stripes of the very small TriColoured Hermit Crab
More neat and interesting things that I found along the undercut shore line at low tide will be posted in days to come. There are so many wonderful things to see here in the Turks and Caicos Islands…..every time you turn around there’s something new to photograph.
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: Clibanarius Tricolor, crab, Crabs, intertidal rocks, Osprey Rock, shell, Shells, South West Harbour Bluff, subtidal rocks, Three Colour Blue Hermit crab, tidal pools, TriColour Blue Hermit Crab
Posted in Animals, Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Places to go, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, Underwater, What to do | No Comments »
Monday, May 25th, 2009
Barry was the bravest of us all as he picked up this large land crab by our villas.
Guests at Harbour Club Villas were surprised by this rather large land crab they found by their villa. Barry picked it up as it was not moving very fast and was not at all aggressive. We think it might have been injured or sick because it couldn’t even lift up its major claw in order to defend itself.
It sure had a lethal looking claw
It was raining most of today but during one of the breaks between rains, our guests came across the land crab in one of our planters. We don’t think it’s going to make it. It was a great opportunity to take a real close look at a land crab.
Marta
Tags: blue crab, crab, Crabs, Harbour Club Villas, land crab, land crabs
Posted in Animals, Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »
Monday, March 16th, 2009
What a catch! A good sized lobster and fresh fish for dinner
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: fish, lobster
Posted in Animals, Crustaceans, Fishing, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »
Monday, March 9th, 2009
A Club or Pencil sea urchin found on the beach
Isn’t this something ! Anna found this sea urchin on the beach and I thought it just had all kinds of encrustations making it look quite unique. However on looking things up, I discovered that this is a Club or Pencil urchin.
See you on the beach,
Marta
http://www.diving.tc
Tags: beach, Beaches, Sea urchin, sea urchins
Posted in Beaches, Crustaceans, Diving, Flora and Fauna, Odds and Ends, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands, Underwater | No Comments »
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
More Hermit Crabs? But this one today was soooooo neat!
You may think that I’ve gone crazy for crabs but I couldn’t resist taking photos of this hermit crab. Barry found this little guy on his way to the pool. I got him to pose for the camera because as hermit crabs go…….this one was really colourful with his great shell.
Hermit Crab up close and personal!
For all you crab lovers out there………..enjoy these photos.
Cheers,
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
One more photo of this Hermit Crab
Tags: Caribbean Hermit crab, Crabs, Hermit crab, Soldier crab
Posted in Crabs, Crustaceans, Flora and Fauna, Providenciales, Shells, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
"Crabby Johnson" visits Harbour Club in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Hi Marta and Barry. Mike and I got your email message letting us know of your new blog. It’s quite fun! I love your pictures. It brings back such nice memories of the fun we had when we stayed with you. When I saw the crab pictures it reminded me that we were going to send you a picture of the very large crab that walked from the back of your property down the driveway. I’m including it with this message. Kevin had heard a sound in the bushes near the veranda and when we went to look we saw him. He proceeded to “walk” under our rental car and down the driveway. You can tell how large he is in relation to the size of the tire. Kevin named him “Crabby Johnson. I hope you are back to normal after the hurricane scare in September. Thanks again for letting us know about the blog. Take care, Sandy and Mike Adamson
What a great photo and I’d forgotten that you were going to email me it……………Thanks alot and he is huge judging by the tire!!! I wished I had seen him too.
Thanks for your email,
Marta
http://www.harbourclubvillas.com
Tags: blue crab, Crabs
Posted in Crabs, Crustaceans, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands | No Comments »