Gold stripes and gold flecks

  

Beautiful gold-flecked hermit crab in a Three-colored Top Snail (Calliostoma tricolor) shell.  Photographed on 28 January 2025.

ha`uku`uku`ula`ula and unauna

Two fun invertebrates found snorkeling in Poipu today (3 April 2024).  

Above, meet ha`uku`uku`ula`ula, or Red Slate Pencil Urchin (Heterocentrotus mamillatus).

Below, check out this tiger-striped crab — a Cone Shell Hermit Crab (Ciliopagurus strigatus).  (The general Hawaiian name for hermit crab is unauna.)

Fun fact — Eric learned that this crab’s flattened body and legs allow it to live within the shells of cone snails (Conus spp.), which are rarely used by other hermit crab species.

We have been feeling very lucky to spend a little time learning about these amazing animals.

Mahalo to Eric for the great photos!

Tricolored!

  

We were out in the field briefly this past weekend and I encountered two different hermit crabs in these beautiful snail shells — Three-colored Top Snail (Calliostoma tricolor).  

The snail is generally a more southern species, with most range descriptions describing their distribution from Santa Cruz south to Baja California, Mexico.  Looking online, however, there are quite a few records north of Santa Cruz to at least Bolinas, and one outlier up in Mendocino County (Thanks, Michael!).  So for the record, here's an observation from Sonoma County on 26 January 2024.