Red Hermit Crab

[Originally posted to the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (MCR LTER) Marine Life Encyclopedia]

Red Hermit Crab
(Dardanus megistos)

Photo by Gerick Bergsma

	Indian and Western Pacific Oceans
	Reef flats and lagoons
	Red Hermit Crabs are omnivorous scavengers, meaning they feed on plant and animal scraps.
	Red hermit crabs live in empty snail shells (the one pictured is in a Trochus shell).  As the crab grows, it will outgrow its shell, and must find a larger one to live in.
	- Wikipedia - Moorea Biocode Database

Mantis Shrimp

[Originally posted to the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (MCR LTER) Marine Life Encyclopedia]

Mantis Shrimp
(Order Stomatopoda)

Photo by Gerick Bergsma

Mantis shrimp are ferocious predators, and are generally grouped as either smashers, which slam their prey with their club-like raptorial claws, or spearers, which stab their prey using their sharply barbed raptorial claws.  Smashers can shatter crab and snail shells with a force likened to that of a bullet, while spearers catch soft-bodied but fast-moving prey, such as fish, by quickly spearing them.

	Mantis shrimp are found worldwide, but are most abundant in tropical and subtropical seas.
	Reef flats, sand flats, lagoons and shallow bays.  Many live among rubble or in intricate sand burrows.
	Varies by species, but may include fish, snails, bivalves, crustaceans and worms.
	Mantis shrimp have some of the most complex eyes known.  Each eye is mounted on a movable stalk and has three parts, which provides precise depth perception independent of the other eye.  Additionally, they can see more colors than most animals, from the infrared to the ultraviolet, and can even detect the polarization of light.
	- Wikipedia - Moorea Biocode Database

Comet Seastar

[Originally posted to the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (MCR LTER) Marine Life Encyclopedia]

Linckia or Comet Seastar
(Linckia sp.)

Photo by Gerick Bergsma

	Throughout the tropical Indopacific
	Linckia are found on reef flats.
	Linckia seastars consume detritus, algae and microbes.
	Linckia seastars have amazing abilities to regenerate body parts.  If attacked, a seastar may sever one of its legs to escape from a predator and later regrow it.  They are also able to asexually reproduce by severing legs, which regrow into new seastars.
	Coming Soon - Moorea Biocode Database

Drupe Snail

[Originally posted to the Moorea Coral Reef LTER (MCR LTER) Marine Life Encyclopedia]

Grape Drupe Snail
(Morula uva)

Photo by Gerick Bergsma

	Throughout the Indopacific
	Shallow reefs and lagoons
	The grape drupe specializes in eating vermetid snails (Dendropoma sp.).
	Drupes are predatory snails, and are able to eat other mollusks by drilling through their shell. The genus name Morula is derived from the Latin word for Mulberry, owing to the berry-like appearance of this snail's shell.  The species name uva is the Latin word for grape, probably referring to the grape-like purple color found on the inside of the shell.
	Coming Soon - Moorea Biocode Database