Sea Cucumber Swimming Crab – Lissocarcinus orbicularis
You know that expression about someone having a bug up their butt? Well, this little crab is known to make excursions up into the butts of sea cucumbers. That’s right folks, it just clambers right up in there.
It is a wee little crab – about half an inch across max, and it would be easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it. It is not at all unusual to see divers in the know shine their flashlights up the butts of cucumbers to see if they can spot one of these little fellers lurking in the shadows, and I’ve seen photographers camp out over a cucumber’s bum end to try to get the money shot of one of these guys in the hole.
This crab was spotted on an Indonesian night dive as it was out, circumnavigating the anus of cucumber. We’d watch it crawl up the butt of this crazy patterned cuke, and then the cuke would expel it, with a surprising amount of force – you might even call it an awoosh ;^) And then it would crawl right back up in there again. The guide and I shared a few giggles as we watched this sequence happen several times.
About Judy G Diver
Born and raised on the west coast of Canada, I have always felt a strong connection to the sea. But for many years, I stayed on the surface, afraid of what lurked down deep. When I was in my early 30's, with three young children (aka the P's), my husband (aka Mr G) signed us up for a SCUBA certification course, as a surprise. Although I had my fears, my stubbornness prevailed, and somehow I made it through four murky, frigid, cold water dives in Vancouver to successfully pass the course. Soon after we went diving off the west coast of Mexico, in the Sea of Cortez, where my eyes were opened to the beauty and other-worldliness of the life down under.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
I currently have well over 2000 dives under the belt, and I have been fortunate to travel and dive in Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Fiji, Palau, Philippines, Galapagos, Costa Rica, Hawaii, California, Egypt, Mexico, several islands in the Caribbean, and here in British Columbia.
In addition to this blog and my personal website (Awoosh.com/Directory), which is linked at the top of the blog, my stuff has been published in a variety of magazines and websites, including a regular monthly feature for Scubadiving Magazine for several years. All links to this work can be found in this blog.
