[Originally posted to the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (MCR LTER) Marine Life Encyclopedia]
Coral Crab or "House Keeper" Crab
(Tetralia
nigrolineata)
Photo by Hannah Stewart. Text by H. Stewart and G. Bergsma.
Tetralia crabs actively clean sediment off
their host corals, enabling small corals to survive in high-sediment
areas where they would otherwise be smothered.
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Crabs of the genus Tetralia are found throughout the Indo-Pacific. T. nigrilineata has been reported from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Cook Islands, and New Caledonia. |
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Shallow tropical reefs, reef flats and lagoons where Acropora corals grow. |
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Coral mucus. |
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Tetralia live only on Acropora corals and feed on their mucus. |
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- National Geographic Kids - Moorea Biocode Database |
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