Soft coral crab

Scientific name : Hoplophrys oatesii

Small decorator crab, with spiny carapace and legs. Variable colour, with a pattern of white, orange and red lines reproducing the colour of the associated soft coral (Dendronephthya sp.). Carapace lenght 2 cm.
Impossible to confound. On soft corals it can live together with other species of the Majidae family (like Achaeus spinosus, Naxioides sp.) and porcelain crabs.

Associated organisms
It lives as commensal on the soft corals Dendronephthya sp. It uses to put on its carapace soft coral polyps, sometimes whole branches. It can feed on some coral polyps, probably recycling the pigments.