Image of a Sea Anemone with permission from Petr VodickaImage of cluster of Sea Anemonies, with permission from Brocken Inglory

Additional Facts

WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS PARTICULAR ORGANISM?

          When getting this particular assignment, our professor stated that one requirement was that it has to be from a marine habitat. My professor also provided a collection of books that contained marine organisms, and recommended that we take a look through them. I had no previous knowledge about an organism that stood out to me, so I started from scratch. My initial thought was to pick an organism that caught my attention, because it would catch the attention of other's reading my web page. Sure enough, while flipping through the pages of the marine habitat book, I stumbled across the Neopetrolisthes maculatus. I then researched on multiple web sites and found that there was not a whole lot of information about the Spotted Porcelain Crab. Due to the lack of information and research, it intrigued me to establish a successful working web page with all the necessary information about the Spotted Porcelain Crab in one location; here!

 WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT THE SPOTTED PORCELAIN CRAB?

          You should care about the Image of the Earth, from a space orbital from Wikimedia Commons with permission from NASA/NAOO/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman KuringSpotted Porcelain Crab because without the existence of these organisms, the entire ecosystem would be off-kilter. If humans continue the current rate of destruction of our planet, these animals along with many others will disappear and cause a multitude of problems. One example of this would be if the Spotted Porcelain Crab went extinct, the sea anemone that this organism has a mutualistic relationship with, would die. The sea anemone cannot survive without the presence and role of the Spotted Porcelain Crab. If the sea anemone were to go extinct, many organisms that rely on the sea anemone would also go extinct. If you are following along, it only takes one organism being whipped off the planet for good, to cause even more problems. If I can raise awareness about this organism and get others to understand the importance of the Spotted Porcelain Crab, we can reverse the process of extinction and help build a more sustainable planet for all organisms to thrive on, including humans.

OTHER INTERESTING FACTS?

         In extreme cases, the Spotted Porcelain Crab has been known to hide inside the mouth of the sea anemone, only to reappear when the danger is out of sight (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2010).  This behavior also explains why the Spotted Porcelain Crab is commonly referred to as the Anemone Crab.  

          Although the Spotted Porcelain Crab has a mutualistic relationship with the sea anemone, it is otherwise known to be a very aggressive organism. The main purpose for the large claws located at the front of the Spotted Porcelain Crab’s body are mainly used as a defense mechanism. When invaders come near the sea anemone, the Spotted Porcelain Crab will display the pinchers in hopes of scaring the invading organism away. If the intruder continues to invade the Spotted Porcelain Crabs territory, the sea anemone will take action by projecting a tentacle to sting the invader (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2010).

         A female Porcelain Crab less than an inch long may carry nearly 1,600 eggs at a time (most carry only around 600). (Monterey Bay Aquarium, 2014).

 


To learn about where I gathered all the information to make this web page possible, click here.

If you would rather return to the home page, click here.