Go Huskies!

Napoleon Advancing!  This Haig's Hermit is on the move.

    Yesterday I went swimming by myself here at Kona Makai.  There was just a little swell and I swam through about ten yards of bubbles as I crossed the lava tube.  Noting the usual suspects, I soon found myself at one of my favorite underwater landmarks, a clump of green staghorn coral around which lives a colony of Haig’s Hermit Crabs.  I discovered the colony just about a year ago. One of the small purple-legged beauties was harboring in a depression left by a burrowing urchin just above the green staghorn.  The next day I went back to the same spot and found another, bringing him back to the aquarium for a photo session.   We root for the Huskies, so we are especially fond of purple anything.  We kept him for a day and named him Napoleon after one of the great Husky running backs.
    We have seen a lot of hermits here in Kona, at least ten species, mostly of the genus Calcinus.  Often a hand lens is necessary for identification, but in many cases the crab is colored in such a way that there is no doubt.  In this case, I had been looking for those purple legs for a few years and knew what it was right away. To find hermit crabs, one needs to look for unusual shells  and those that are in a location not easily

Haig's Hermit showing off his white tipped chelipeds.

The colony exists in and around this green staghorn.

explained.  If you have been studying, you may be able to identify your life crab on the spot. In this case, the Haig’s are living in turbans covered in pink coralline algae.  I’m hoping to wait until I see an Ornate and a Cone Shell Hermit Crab (two other obvious hermits) this season before I show them to you here.
     Most of my best hermit crab pictures have been taken in or near an aquarium.  The hermits we find in Hawaii are tiny little guys and shy.  Patience and a macro lens have been the keys, along with a great many exposures.  This is, of course,  made possible by the digital camera, where you don’t pay a fortune for  a vast number of exposures. 
    On this swim, I switched to macro and dove the coral head repeatedly, swooping back and forth a few inches above the little crabs, six feet below the surface.  Here is my best effort at a couple wild Haig’s Hermit Crabs.   I hope you enjoy the little guys on their wave washed perch.

Two Haig's hermit Crabs at home in the colony.

 Go Huskies!





jeff