Trapezia cymodoce
Diagnosis
Trapezia cymodoce (the blue coral crab) is a small crab that is an obligate symbiont of Pocillopora corals. They live within the branches on these coral, where they receive protection from predation as well as their food source; coral mucous. In return the coral gets a cleaner of excess sediment and a guard to fend away coral predators such as the Crown-of-Thorns starfish. T. cymodoce can be found living within Pocillopora corals throughout the Heron Island reef and they have wide tropical distribution from the Red sea, thru the Indo-West pacific and out into the Central South Pacific. These crabs typically occur in heterosexual pairs, with only a single pair typically found inhabiting and guarding a single Pocillopora coral head. Males are thought to undergo nocturnal migrations in order to find a better coral head.
Reference(s)
Observation site(s)
SYMBIONTS
Association with... | Region origin | Name of site | In reference... |
---|---|---|---|
Hematodinium-species complex | Queensland |
Infection of Trapezia spp. (Decapoda: Xanthidae) by Hematodinium sp. (Duboscquodinida: Syndinidae): a new family record of infection. Journal of Fish Diseases 16:273-276. (1993) |