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Soft coral crab

Gallery: Macro & Close-upPosted January 13, 20042,130 views12 comments

This species of crab live on Dendrenopthya - spiky 'soft' corals. They're not on every coral of course and as these critters are around 1cm across, cryptic by nature, and the corals themselves can be the size of a medium shrub, they're normally difficult to find.

A recent trip to Lembeh straits in Indonesia found a few more than I've seen elsewhere.

Nikon F90x, Nexus housing, 105AFD + 2X converter (image taken around double lifesize), twin YS30 strobes, Velvia 100. Lembeh Straits, Indonesia.

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Juza on January 13, 2004 at 3:02 PM

WOOOW!
I love underwater photos , this one stand out!
I'm absolutely fascinated by this little guy...he's a living abstract sculpture

Registered on November 1, 2003, 374 Posts, 10466 Comments

Comment posted by Randy Harrison on January 13, 2004 at 3:31 PM

Really fascinating. Excellent capture. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 468 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by Justin on January 13, 2004 at 4:56 PM

An amazing looking creature.Excellent shot.Love the colours.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 106 Posts, 1697 Comments

Comment posted by Justin on January 13, 2004 at 4:56 PM

An amazing looking creature.Excellent shot.Love the colours.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 106 Posts, 1697 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Bates on January 13, 2004 at 6:38 PM

Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great job on this one, Andy! UW shots mesmerize me!!

Michael

Registered on November 1, 2003, 149 Posts, 2381 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lamb on January 13, 2004 at 7:22 PM

A very cool shot Andy!! I used to dive and always wanted to combine my photography with diving. Now I have asthma and can no longer dive - such is life.

Any how I digress - the DOF on this is spot on, which me thinks is no easy trick 60 feet down!! I like the out of focus items partially in front of the crab. For me this adds depth to the image.

Registered on November 16, 2003, 58 Posts, 138 Comments

Comment posted by David Gottlieb on January 13, 2004 at 7:53 PM

Underwater Macro is so cool..I also use to dive..but dont think I could hack it these days..I'm envious..this is a really nice shot of a fascinating critter

Registered on November 1, 2003, 436 Posts, 1790 Comments

Comment posted by Danny on January 13, 2004 at 8:01 PM

this shot deserves it. Superb shot for land never mind down below. The frontal perspective and looking slightly up from eye level is one I try to get on land, never as good as this though. Again SUPERB. Lighting, details, colour, fantastic IMO.

All the best Andy, love to see more of this.

Danny.

Registered on November 25, 2003, 165 Posts, 1345 Comments

Comment posted by Abdul Shukor on January 14, 2004 at 8:27 AM

Hello Andy
Great photo and superd Crytals clear. wow

Abdul Shukor
Singapore

Registered on November 20, 2003, 5 Posts, 76 Comments

Comment posted by Edwin Brosens on January 14, 2004 at 11:39 AM

velvia 100 film EXCELLENT choise LOL.
the light is 3D effect.and sharp
hope to see more from there IMHO

Registered on November 1, 2003, 60 Posts, 593 Comments

Comment posted by Andy Heath on January 14, 2004 at 3:01 PM

Thanks for all the comments. Incidentally, these crabs have a habit of 'nipping' off bits of the coral and fixing them to their shell. This guy hasn't done that yet - it may be a recent shell change? Anyway, I'll post another some time with some of the coral attached (it always fascinates me how this sort of habit evolved).

The enthusiasm on this forum always gives me a chuckle