Decorator Crab Coloring Sheet

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Why Do Decorator Crabs Dress Up?

Have you ever felt like your eyes were playing tricks on you? In the ocean, God designed a creature that can feel like an optical illusion: the decorator crab. What looks like moving seaweed or shells might be hiding a living creature beneath. These crabs do not dress up to look fancy. They dress up to stay alive.

Why Do Decorator Crabs Dress Up?

Decorator crabs “dress up” for one main reason: camouflage. Many animals would love to eat a crab, including fish, octopuses, sea turtles, otters, and even larger crabs. So decorator crabs hide in plain sight by covering themselves with pieces of their underwater world.

Instead of costumes, they wear living things like seaweed, sponges, corals, anemones, and sometimes even spiny urchins. They may also use nonliving items, such as rocks and shells. When they blend into the background, predators have a much harder time spotting them.

Decorator crabs belong to a large group of marine crabs often called spider crabs because of their long, skinny legs. Around 75% of the crabs in this group decorate themselves, which is why we call them decorator crabs.

How Do Decorator Crabs Stick Things To Themselves?

Decorator crabs attach their “decorations” to their exoskeleton, especially the hard top part called the carapace.

They don’t use glue or tape. Instead, God designed their shells with tiny bristles called setae, many of which have little hooks. The hooks grip onto bits of seaweed or sponge like Velcro. Some decorator crabs even place living anemones on their shells, creating a moving camouflage suit with built-in stings. Often, both the crab and the anemone benefit from this partnership.

What Happens When Decorator Crabs Molt?

As decorator crabs grow, they molt their shell. Many will move their decorations from the old shell onto the new one, almost like purposeful recycling. And if food is scarce, some may even snack on their costume.

Learn more about decorator crabs on our podcast for kids and families: