Poor Little Crab

Sun, Nov 15th, 2009  |   Marine Life, Places, Adventures 10 Comments

Yesterday…female hairy frogfish eating male hairy frogfish.

Today…octopus in a shell capturing and eating a crab.

octopus eating crab

The crab was alive and struggling, but soon after I took this photo, the octopus wrapped its mantle over the crab and devoured the crunchy treat.

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  • http://www.arnekuilman.nl Arne

    Makes me wonder how strong the octopus’ beak is or what science doesn’t know yet about poison in the Octopus’ saliva.
    (as proven in the blue ringed case)
    Looks like a difficult meal to devour. Or does the poor crab die of shock as the octopus is strong enough to pull the crab apart limb by limb..
    Rough nature at it’s best. You see all the good and icky stuff (-:

  • http://www.arnekuilman.nl Arne

    Makes me wonder how strong the octopus’ beak is or what science doesn’t know yet about poison in the Octopus’ saliva.
    (as proven in the blue ringed case)
    Looks like a difficult meal to devour. Or does the poor crab die of shock as the octopus is strong enough to pull the crab apart limb by limb..
    Rough nature at it’s best. You see all the good and icky stuff (-:

  • http://www.tonywublog.com Tony

    I’ve watched other octopuses eat. It’s not a pretty sight, at least not for the prey. Crabs get crunched, then pulled apart piece by piece.

    When I watched a blue-ringed octopus eat a crab, the prey slowly stopped moving as the cephalopod’s poison took hold.

    It didn’t seem as though the octopus in this case needed any toxin, as it was more than sufficiently strong to immobilize the crab, and the crab never stopped struggling.

  • http://www.tonywublog.com Tony

    I’ve watched other octopuses eat. It’s not a pretty sight, at least not for the prey. Crabs get crunched, then pulled apart piece by piece.

    When I watched a blue-ringed octopus eat a crab, the prey slowly stopped moving as the cephalopod’s poison took hold.

    It didn’t seem as though the octopus in this case needed any toxin, as it was more than sufficiently strong to immobilize the crab, and the crab never stopped struggling.

  • http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html Gunther Deichmann

    You right into all those Gourmet shots these days you have quiet a Restaurant out there, ha, ha very cool I like it.
    GD

  • http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html Gunther Deichmann

    You right into all those Gourmet shots these days you have quiet a Restaurant out there, ha, ha very cool I like it.
    GD

  • Marina

    You know how is the apriencia of the crab after it was eaten by the octopus? (the remains) You’ve got pictures of that? Greetings from Argentina 

  • Marina

    You know how is the appearance of the crab after it was eaten by the octopus? (the remains) You’ve got pictures of that? Greetings from Argentina

  • http://www.tonywublog.com/ Tony Wu

    Hi Marina,

    Sorry, no pictures of what was left. We left the octopus to enjoy its meal
    Cheers,

    Tony

  • Sarah

    Great photo! Do you mind if I use this if I give credit?