You can see the contents of the hermit crab! A zookeeper teaches you about the amazing ecology.Uses the habits of the natural world.

"Crystal Hermit Crab" exhibited by "Susami Town Shrimp and Crab Aquarium" [Photo courtesy of Susami Town Shrimp and Crab Aquarium]

In addition to their cute form, hermit crabs are becoming more and more popular as pets because you can change the shells that serve as lodgings to your liking. You can often see sea creatures while swimming in the sea or walking around the water. A Twitter post by the "Susami Town Shrimp and Crab Aquarium" (Nishimuro-gun, Wakayama Prefecture) has become a hot topic. We interviewed Mr. Masaki Honda of the museum about the ingenious exhibits and the ecology of hermit crabs. [Video] ``Crystal Hermit Crab'' exhibited by ``Susami Town Shrimp and Crab Aquarium'' Twitter post with voices saying ``Observe hermit crabs as you wish!'' ◇ ◇ ◇

You can clearly see what's inside the shells.The ``Susami Town Shrimp and Crab Aquarium'' is a rare aquarium attached to a roadside station. is. About 150 species and 1,000 crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs that inhabit the waters around the Kii Peninsula are on display. Among them, the "Ishida tamiyadokari", whose body is encased in a transparent glass shell, is particularly noteworthy. About 5 cm long. At the museum, it is nicknamed “Crystal Hermit Crab” because of its appearance. About 200 hermit crabs are kept in the museum, but only two of them live in glass shells. If you look at this hermit crab from the side, you can see at a glance how the abdomen fits inside the shell. By wrapping the abdomen around the conch shell, you can observe how the body is well fixed and moving. When this high-visibility display method was published on Twitter, it received a great response with nearly 190,000 "likes". Furthermore, ``I can really see that you are really grabbing a shell and carrying it on your back'' ``This is amazing! I'm glad I got to see this before I die!"

Exhibits where you can directly touch living creatures are popular.In the future, there will also be special exhibitions for maniacs.

So, how did the much-talked-about hermit crab come to live in a glass shell? I think it is relatively well known that hermit crabs live in conch shells that match their body size, and "relocate" or "move" shells as they grow. When the shell becomes narrower, the hermit crab finds a suitable shell and uses its own scissors to measure the size. And when they find the right shell, they quickly shed the old shell and move in to the new one. According to keeper Masaki Honda, the method of getting them into the glass shell is very simple. All you have to do is put the hermit crab and the shell you want to move in the same case and wait for a while. "Anyway, I wait patiently. However, when it doesn't move easily, I vibrate the shell and hold out a new shell to the place where it came out so that it can enter. In the natural world, two animals collide with each other. We have observed the behavior of expelling them from their shells, and we are using that habit." 　In addition, although hermit crabs repeatedly "replace", their growth method is, surprisingly, to repeat molting. Molting takes place inside the shell. “By the way, hermit crabs excrete in their shells. They have oar-shaped legs called fukushi on their abdomens, and they use these to release excrement outside the shell to dispose of it. You don't have to go out of your way to take off your shell.”; When I asked about the highlight, Mr. Honda told me that it was the "touching pool". In this exhibition, you can directly touch the world's largest crab, the giant spider crab, the horseshoe crab, which is called a "living fossil," and the popular deep-sea creature, the giant beetle. In the future, we plan to hold a special exhibition of "Smooth Manjugani", which is known for having deadly poison, in contrast to its cute name. This is a maniacal special exhibition where you collect only the smoothest crabs and vote for the “recommended” individual. Mr. Honda says that he sometimes gives explanations while wearing a costume. I would like to deepen my understanding of sea creatures at the museum, which is full of fun explanations and ingenuity.

Hint-Pot Editorial Department