Then, usingits rear walking legs, it flipped the plasterboard of sponge onto its rostrum,and carefully balanced it there-like an adolescent learning good postureby balancing a book on her head. When we placed a young decorator crab ina collecting jar with a sliver of red sponge, the crab used its front claws,or chelipeds, and mouth parts to cut pieces from the sponge. Marine biologists working in NorthCarolina found that decorator crabs, in the presence of enemies, will decoratethemselves before they'll feed. As any supermodel could tellyou, a killer dress is much more important than food, and young decoratorcrabs would be the last to disagree. The crabs use hooked setae, or bristles, as holdfasts to anchoranimals and algae to their exoskeleton. Although decorator crabs are stunning whenremoved from their environment, in the proper setting, they're hardly noticeableat all. But insteadof using the hydroids, polychaete tubes, bryozoans, wood chips, and algait gathers to line a nest, this fashion-conscious crustacean wears otherorganisms like a prom dress. With a penchant for collecting animals and plants nearits home, the decorator crab is the magpie of Cattle Point. 432dec Cattle Point: Where Fashion Is the Best Defense Of the many striking creatures that live between the tidesof Cattle Point, the decorator crab ( Oregonia gracilis) is perhapsthe most elaborate.
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