If it is a decorator crab, we'll probably never really identify the bugger for sure, since he has himself covered up so well...the eyes could be on stalks, or not...and the "mouth" probably isn't a mouth at all, as his mandibles are most likely hidden by the junk he's wearing.
could it be...
.... Composcia retusa? That's a typ of decorator crab native to the eastern Pacific area where this animal was seen.
East or West
Hi Quero,
Do you mean Western Pacific?
In any case, one lead I've got is that it is a Teddy Bear Crab. Still haven't confirmed it though because I haven't found any picutre that vaguely resembles it.
Last edited by oceanjam; 04-16-2007 at 02:56 PM. Reason: accidentally turned that emoticon into a URL...duuuhh.
Duh. Yeah. Of course. (looking at the map that has Australia at the topOriginally Posted by oceanjam
Hi Quero,
Do you mean Western Pacific?
In any case, one lead I've got is that it is a Teddy Bear Crab. Still haven't confirmed it though because I haven't found any picutre that vaguely resembles it.)
Here are a couple of sites with deorator crabs that have green stuff on them:
Composia retusa (second photo)
Composia retusa
'Teddy bear crab' is Polydectus cupulifer. And here's a link wih a photo:
Polydectus cupulifer
Last edited by Quero; 04-17-2007 at 02:04 AM.
If I was a gambling man, I'd bet you're looking at some sort of Frog Fish, although I've never seen one looking quite like that before. The eyes and mouth and your description of stubby legs sounds about right to me. I've tried to attach a picture I found on the web when I searched under Frog Fish pictures. If that doesn't work take a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tan-tc/190007114/
that's where I found the picture.
Good luck with the ID, its a cool picture, whatever it is.
Couldn't figure out how to edit my last posting, so here's another picture I found. Same source as before.
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