Decorator Crab

How much fun are fish in their natural habitat, the water! 

Recently I was introduced to an adorable little crustacean, the decorator crab. I felt utter glee at hearing about his habits and urges to adorn himself. Here is what this particular type of crab gets up to while roaming about. This information was taken from the Monterey Bay Aquarium web page; I have slightly altered the wording of the first sentence to fit into this piece of writing. Visit the page yourself for some fun! 

Decorator crabs camouflage themselves with tiny algae and animals like anemones, sponges and bryozoans. The crab selects pieces of algae and some animals from its habitat and fastens them to hooked, Velcrolike bristles, called satae on the back of its carapace, or upper shell.

Why, oh why, do these crustaceans decorate themselves? You tell me, dear reader, why they do what they do? It doesn't stop them from being fish food, because fish have got to eat, and they will get the meat out of the shell when and if they feel the urge to feed. Attaching things to its crabby shell is a form of camouflage, sure thing, but isn't it cute and funny and playful, and some kind of too sweet to comprehend?

I wear lipstick, and I dress to be attractive and feel good about myself. Some people enlarge their boobs, lips, buttocks, to make themselves stand out, to decorate themselves and draw attention, camouflaging what they think they lack. Are we any different from the crab that just cannot help himself, and must attach things to his hooked shell? Well of course we are different, dear reader, because we think, and crabs don't, no matter how purposefully they perform their daily tasks. 

This is almost too delightful for me to consider. God didn't just create, he decorated for our joyful discoveries, and to ignite our imagination. Plain old plain old just isn't good enough for God, and he makes it so that we can enjoy what he has made for us, in a playful way. I watched a teeny tiny almost see through crab with red on his claws (my memory isn't perfect ... there was red, but I cannot recall if it was on his claws or elsewhere, helping me spot him) pick invisible food from the top of a star fish that he had mounted for his eating pleasure. The star fish was none the worse for wear and seemed nonplussed by his passenger. HILARIOUS!

The ecosystems of the sea, of the ocean, of the lakes and streams, puddles and aquariums, give us a glimpse into how very magnificent creation is, and how wonderfully made the animals and humans and their habitats, by an all powerful, all knowing, glorious God. 

The decorator crab, what a little darling.