News of the Day – Deep-Sea Crab Eats Trees
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NARRATOR: By golly you'll never believe it! In the deep ocean, there's a species of crab that eats trees!
Scientists have identified this crustacean as Munidopsis andamanica. Try saying that three times fast!
You can just call it a galatheid crab or squat lobster. The creature feasts on wood that has sunk to the ocean floor. So meals come from coastline trees that have fallen into the sea, or even the occasional shipwreck. My, how tasty!
This discovery is helping scientists learn more about animals colonizing deep sea wood. hey say natural tree debris is making an important and significant contribution to life in the deep sea; thus answering the age-old question – if a tree falls in the ocean, is there anyone to eat it?
And that's your news of the day!
