Strawberry Crab!

New Crab species, Neoliomera species closely related to the straberry crab in Hawaii/Indo-Pacific. I found this little crab and thought it was so bright and so cool that I blew it up big for you. Just click on the picture. Interestingly enough, the eye sockets pop up (apparently) through the carapace rather then on the edge of the carapace like most crabs that I've seen.

Curlew with Crab

Curlew with Crab. I thought Curlews ate worms but they are apparently quite adaptable in their eating habits. This one caught a crab and systematically removed both pincers and most of the legs before, at an almost leisurely pace, gulping down the carapace as one tasty morsel! I snapped pictures in sequence that show the Curlew first grabbing the hapless crab's left pincer, shaking (off goes the left pincer), then grabbing the right pincer, shaking (off goes the right pincer), shaking off a few legs and GULP. We seriously don't give animals anywhere near the credit they deserve for being uncannily smart and adaptable. As for the crab, what a way to go. Ouch.