Cannonball Sponge Crab (Dromidiopsis indica)
Pulau Sekudu, 5th July 2015
This Cannonball Sponge Crab was found in a fish cage trap (often locally known as a ‘bubu’). These traps are quite indiscriminate, catching all sorts of fishes and crustaceans, and are often laid in shallow waters, killing the animals trapped within as they are left stranded by the receding tide. The fact that this crab was missing all its limbs suggests that the trap had been left unchecked for some time, long enough for it to wander in, die, and have all the limbs drop off as it decomposed.
