Crab that looks like strawberry

Philippines
March 27, 2012 12:46am CST
A crab that looks like a strawberry was seen off the coast of Kenting National Park in southern Taiwan. Two females of this species were seen in June 2009 by assistant professor Ho-Ping-Ho of the national Taiwan Ocean University and his team. It has a bright red clam-shaped shell that is covered with small white bumps. Its shell is about 1-inch wide. This crab resembles the species Neoliomera Pubescens crab that lives in the areas around Hawaii, Polynesia and Mauritius as confirmed by Taiwanese crab specialist Wang Chia-hsiang. But the distinctive shell of this srawberry crab sets it apart from the Neoliomera Pubescens crab. After a thorough research, it was confirmed that the crab species was unrecorded in official reports worldwide. It is temporarily named the new Neoliomera Pubescens crab. The two female crabs look like mature strawberries with their white spots and 2.5 centimeter wide body. Since the discovery, Ho and his team were unable to spot any other member of the new species. At the moment, the new strawberry crab is not yet precisely classified. It is important to find a male of this species since the reproductive organ of the male crab is one of the keys to its classification.
1 response
@albto_568 (1268)
• Costa Rica
27 Mar 12
News like this one, reminds us how wonderful our planet is, and how important it is to respect and take care of the natural environment, in wich, we all live, after all, there is so much we still have to learn. I am sure that this must be a beautiful crab, looking like a strawberry, :)