Gigantic Hermit Crabs Found On Okinawa

Posted on October 5, 2019 by Admin11

Last year, a friend and I stumbled upon a local beach with gigantic hermit crabs. All of the hermit crabs were found adapting with non-native seashells.

Indonesian hermit crab (Coenbita brevimanus)

Where did these shells come from? The shell shack

The shell shack is an old wooden shed filled with boxes of imported craft shells from the Philippines. The hermit crabs found an opening and took advantage of this real estate.

Polished muffin (Ryssota ovum)

The most abundant shell was the polished muffin (Ryssota ovum) land snail. This shell is native to the Philippines and is twice the size of any land snail on Okinawa. The muffin shell is a perfect mobile home for the land hermit crabs. It’s lightweight, durable and large.

perspective photograph

The hermit crabs were healthy and doing well. I didn’t see any hermit crabs adapting with plastic or any twist top caps.

Land hermit crab (Coenobita cavipes)

Land hermit crab (Coenobita cavipes)

I also found hermit crabs adapting with a variety of marine shells from the Philippines at the same location.

Babylonia arealata (Coenobita purpureus)

hexaplex cichoreum (Coenobita cavipes)

Volema carinifera (Coenobita cavipes)

Melanella candida (Coenobita purpureus)

Casmaria erinaceus (Coenobita purpureus)

hexaplex cichoreum (Coenobita purpureus)

Turbo chrysostomus (Coenobita purpureus)

Tonna sulcosa (Coenobita cavipes)

Learn more about hermit crabs and adaptive behavior ” Crabs with beach trash homes ”

My Mission: To Protect and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands for Future Generations. – If you would like to join my journey, check out my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Your donations will help conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support, Shawn M Miller.

#MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Featured Artist | Hazel Cruzado

Posted on September 15, 2019 by Admin11

Hazel Cruzado is an amazing artist inspired by nature. I have collaborated with her on three separate occasions. The first was the Turtle conservation art show, the second was Sharks and Rays fundraiser and the third was the Coral Conservation art show. All three events were held at the Okinawa Brewing Company and were a huge success! Stop by and check out the huge OBC turtle logo, she is the artist that designed the perfect logo for the company.

Purpose of the art shows: To educate others about these amazing creatures and the major threats they are facing. To donate some of the profits for the art pieces to conservation organizations.

Below are some of my favorite art pieces by Hazel Cruzado.

Her Story

Hazel Cruzado is a local artist from a small fishing village in Okinawa, Japan. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Okinawa at age three with her family upon the invitation of her native Okinawan grandmother. Despite never having received formal training as an artist, the generous guidance of artistically minded friends and the unfailing support from her family encouraged her to pursue art full time in 2012. Living in Okinawa has allowed Hazel to enjoy many unique artistic traditions, natural beauties, and outdoor activities that the island has to offer. Her love for nature, particularly the sea, is a strong inspiration that is often portrayed in her work. Recent projects incorporate driftwood and sea glass, reclaimed/ up-cycled objects such as old surfboards and canvases from an old sail boat’s sail. Driftwood frames, meticulously and skillfully handmade by her husband, complete non-canvas paintings with its unique weather-worn look. Hazel creates art as a way to share the beauty she discovers in nature and ordinary things and hopes that her work may inspire others to live a life of gratitude, glorifying God the Creator of all things.

Check out more stunning work on her website

Have a great day!

Hermit Crabs Living In Glass Bottles By Shawn Miller

Posted on May 4, 2019 by Admin11

Trash, treasure and the beautiful beaches of Okinawa.

One of my favorite things to do on the weekends is to go beach walking. Over the years, I have seen a significant increase in the amount of marine debris washed ashore. The trash is from all over the world, but majority of it washes up from Korea, China and Japan

Maeda flats

This post is not to make people sad, guilty or lose hope, It is to bring awareness to the ongoing trash problem in our oceans and on our shorelines.

Iheya beach

Majority of the glass bottles that wash ashore will eventually break. The resourceful blueberry hermit crabs take full advantage of any broken bottles and twist top caps. They eventually move into this valuable real estate and use it as a protective mobile home until they find a better option.

Marine debris

Broken glass Iheya Island

Hermit Crabs prefer to live in a natural seashell. The most durable home on Okinawa is the silver mouth turban shell.

Hermit crabs feeding

Due to a decline in the number of seashells, the hermit crabs have to adapt with our trash to survive. Below are photographs of hermit crabs found naturally adapting with metal twist caps and broken glass bottles.

Energy drink home

Energy drink home

Glass top Crab

Hermit crabs – real-estate

Metal cap

Hermit crab in a glass

The hermit crab is one of the few animals that can successfully adapt with our waste. If you would like to learn more about hermit crabs adapting with our waste please check out my post on “Crabs With Beach Trash Homes” by Shawn M Miller.

Learn more about making a difference, TEDx talk | Adapting to or Changing Environment by Shawn M Miller

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

This site is also designed to help people identify the beautiful animals of Okinawa, basically to serve as an online nature reference guide. If you would like to make a contribution to support my mission, please click on the donation link paypal.me/maketheswitch4nature

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bringing solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Light bulbs, Plastic Bottles and Hermit Crabs

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Admin11

One of my favorite things to do on the weekends is to go beach walking. Over the years I have seen a significant increase in the amount of marine debris washed ashore. The trash is from all over the world, but majority of it washes up from Korea, China and Japan.

The trash is overwhelming on our shorelines and will take a very long time to clean up. Its absolutely necessary that we work together to fix this worldwide issue.

When I look at the photograph below, I see the potential monetary value in these single use products. I think the only way to combat the problem is to reduce the use and to make the debris worth picking up by giving it a cash value. One solution for the plastic bottle problem would be to create a worldwide deposit-refund system. For example, If people were paid 5-10 cents per plastic bottle collected I guarantee our beaches and forest dumping grounds would be cleaner.

Light bulbs are another form of debris that wash ashore. The light bulbs are transparent and blend in well with the surrounding beach litter. I have accidental stepped on light bulbs while beach combing after typhoons. It is important to wear protective footwear on majority of the beaches surrounding the Ryukyu Islands.

Try and find the broken light bulb below, this is a common site on local beaches.

Meet Edison, A resourceful blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus ) found naturally using a incandescent light bulb screw end as a protective home. I usually find hermit crabs adapting with plastic tops and twist top caps. This was my first encounter with a hermit crab using a light bulb screw end as a mobile home.

This post is not to make people sad, guilty or lose hope, It is to bring awareness to the ongoing trash problem in our oceans and on our shorelines. We all have the ability to make a difference by reducing the amount of single-use items we use daily.

Learn more about making a difference, TEDx talk | Adapting to or Changing Environment by Shawn M Miller

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bringing solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

The lonely hermit crab adapting with a lug-nut cover by Shawn Miller

Posted on December 22, 2018 by Admin11

This week I went out camping with some friends on Miyagi Island. While searching for fire wood I stumbled upon a blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus) adapting with a metal lug-nut cover. I have previously found many hermit crabs adapting with other man-made items such as pet bottle caps, glass bottles, light bulb ends, laundry detergent caps and various scoops. I was pretty excited about this and had to show off the interesting find to my friends.

The blueberry hermit crab is temporarily making due with the available lug-nut cover. It will eventually switch to a shell when it finds an appropriate size. If you would like to learn more about this adaptive behavior please check out my post on “Crabs with Beach trash homes”

* All Coenobita species on Okinawa are recognized as a living natural monument of Japan.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I also photographed the hermit crab on white for the Meet Your Neighbours Project. The technique eliminates distracting elements out of the background and shows the true beauty of the animal. The images are used for conservation awareness and educational purposes.

Later I offered lug nut a Turbo seashell and within five minutes he switched over to his new home.

Okinawa hermit crab

We were fortunate to have beautiful weather. Don’t forget to get out for some Nature Therapy! We all need a break from our busy lifestyles.

My Mission: To document and preserve the wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

paypal.me/maketheswitch4nature

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Gall Crabs – Coral-Inhabiting Micro Crabs of Okinawa

Posted on June 16, 2018 by Admin11

Gall crabs are coral-dwelling crabs that spend their entire life living inside a hole of the hard coral. These micro crabs are only 7mm-10mm in size. They are hard to find and photograph due to their small size.

These tiny crabs are considered to be safe keepers or guardians of the hard coral. The gall crabs defend against coral eating predators such as starfish and snails. The coral provides shelter and food, making it an ideal habitat for the micro coral-dwelling gall crab. I have found these crabs in a variety of coral species in Okinawa. They are usually found in shallow water corals, but recently I found a healthy colony of crabs at sixty-five feet.

If you’re lucky you might see a gall crab searching for food during the night.

The only reason I found this beauty was because she was leaving the gall to release her eggs.

Some of the gall crabs fluoresce using the specialized Light & Motion Nightsea underwater blue light.

After the crabs die, the galls become a new shelter opportunity for snails, fish, and reef crabs.

Bicolor blenny in coral - fish of okinawa

I found this hard coral washed up on Iheya Island. Look close and you can see that hole made by the gall crab.

Stony coral and gall

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands