Tag Archives: seashells of okinawa

Gigantic Hermit Crabs Found On Okinawa

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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)

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.

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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.

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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.

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Land hermit crab (Coenobita cavipes)

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Land hermit crab (Coenobita cavipes)

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

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Babylonia arealata (Coenobita purpureus)

hermit crab

hexaplex cichoreum (Coenobita cavipes)

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Volema carinifera (Coenobita cavipes)

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Melanella candida (Coenobita purpureus)

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Casmaria erinaceus (Coenobita purpureus)

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hexaplex cichoreum (Coenobita purpureus)

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Turbo chrysostomus (Coenobita purpureus)

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Tonna sulcosa (Coenobita cavipes)

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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

The Most Beautiful Bivalve In The World – Pedum spondyloideum

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The Coral scallop (Pedum spondyloideum) is the most beautiful animal I have encountered underwater. The delicate bivalve lives within the hard coral its entire life.

  • Scientific name: Pedum spondyloideum
  • Distribution:  Ryukyu Islands
  • Habitat:  Hard corals in shallow water
  • Diet: Filter feeders
  • Average Size:  35mm-55mm

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What purpose do they serve in the ecosystem? Researchers believe these beautiful bivalves serve a beneficial function among hard corals.

  • Provide circulation for feeding coral
  • Defend the host by expelling water when threatened by corallivorous marine life

The hard coral provides the bivalve with support and protection. The shell is very thin and fragile. Below is a great example of a protected piece of coral with an army of coral scallops.

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The crown of thorns starfish is the most devesting predator of the coral. If the coral (host) dies the bivalve will not survive.

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The coral scallop is very thin and fragile. The living animal is much more beautiful than the protective shell it produces. These specimens were given to me by a fellow researcher.

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I first started photographing these beauties in 2010, below are some of my favorite images taken throughout the Ryukyu Islands.

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 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 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

Seashells of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

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The beautiful seashells of the Ryukyu Islands.

It all started in 1989,  I went to a friend’s house and saw some beautiful seashells displayed on a counter-top.  My first thought was that they were fake or man-made. The intricate design of the Venus Comb Murex shell caught my eye.  I was fascinated by the design and wanted to learn more about the animal that produced this beautiful shell.

Murex spicatus -Venus comb murex

Murex spicatus -Venus comb murex© Shawn Miller

I continued to collect,  photograph and read more about marine mollusks from the Ryukyu Islands. I eventually started contributing my collection samples to worldwide museums, scientists, specialists and images for various scientific publications. I currently do not collect shells anymore but enjoy photographing the marine snails in their natural habitat.

General rules to shell collecting

  • Be respectful of the environment.
  • Only collect dead specimens
  • Avoid over collecting sea-shells
  • If you turn over rocks, place them back in the original position
  • Return all unwanted shells back to the coastline

Below are some of my favorite shells found on Okinawa.

Semipallium dianae - scallop

Semipallium dianae © Shawn Miller

Neocancilla takiisaoi

Neocancilla takiisaoi © Shawn Miller

Cardium victor - Heart shell

Cardium victor – Heart shell © Shawn Miller

Lambis scorpius - scorpion conch

Lambis scorpius – scorpion conch © Shawn Miller

Morum ponderosum

Morum ponderosum © Shawn Miller

Annachlamys reevei

Annachlamys reevei © Shawn Miller

Chicoreus ryukyuensis

Chicoreus ryukyuensis © Shawn Miller

Cypraea (Blasicrura) luchuana (Kuroda,1960) Okinawa

Cypraea (Blasicrura) luchuana  © Shawn Miller

Gloripallium speciosum

Gloripallium speciosum – sunray scallop © Shawn Miller

Avoid handling the venomous cone shells.  They are often found reef walking during low tide.

Venomous cones shells of Okinawa

Venomous cones shells of Okinawa © Shawn Miller

The trident trumpet is sought after for its beauty. This marine snail is one of the few natural predators of the crown of thorn starfish. This large snail also feeds on a variety of starfish as well.

Trident trumpet © Shawn Miller

Trident trumpet © Shawn Miller

Sinezona milleri (Geiger & Sasaki, 2009) – Named for the collector of the type specimens, Shawn Miller of Nagahama, Okinawa, for his continued support in malacological research by providing marine sediment samples of Okinawa.

Sinezona milleri (Geiger & Sasaki , 2009)

Sinezona milleri (Geiger & Sasaki , 2009)

Hemilienardia shawnmilleri.  A new species named after naturalist and underwater photographer Shawn Miller. Described by Shawn Wiedrick.

Hemilienardia shawnmilleri

Hemilienardia shawnmilleri

Calliostoma shawni (Poppe & Tagarao, 2020). A new species from Okinawa named after naturalist and underwater photographer Shawn Miller

Calliostoma shawni (Poppe & Tagarao, 2020)

Calliostoma shawni (Poppe & Tagarao, 2020)

This Giant helmet shell (Cassis cornuta) conformed around the rubber gasket (Marine debris).  An interesting photograph, but our trash is becoming a serious problem.

Helmet shell and rubber gasket

Helmet shell and rubber gasket © Shawn Miller

My daughter and I found this mutated strawberry conch shell in 2018. This is the first four-eyed conch shell I have seen. They naturally have two eyes, not four.

Strawberry conch

Mutated four-eyed conch © Shawn 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 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

Know your nature with Shawn Miller. Have a great day!