Crabs have a myriad of ways to hide from potential predators. Many small species of leucosiid crabs resemble coral rubble and can be extremely difficult to find. But there are some that not only look lie rubble, but have an odd leaf-like shape that seemed to be out of place in normal coral rubble. In the mid-1990s, a Singapore researcher and French scientist found that the strange New Caledonian leucosiid, Tlos petraeus had a habit of hiding among dead pieces of the coralline algae Halimeda. It seems that this as well as many leucosiids were mimiking dead pieces of Halimeda – which can sometimes be so common that large parts of the seabed are covered by them! In Vanuatu, we have found many species with this strange habit, some of which are clearly new to science.

 A variety of leucosiid crabs of the genera Paranursia, Nursia, Nursilia etc.