The boxer crab has an extraordinary method for self-defense: it wards off predators using toxic sea anemones clenched in its tiny claws.
The boxer crab has an extraordinary method for self-defense: it wards off predators using toxic sea anemones clenched in its tiny claws.
[Narrator] Beneath the waves, amongst the corals ...lives an extraordinary creature ...a sporting super star.
[punch noises] The boxer crab.
In a world where almost everything is big and dangerous a tiny crustacean needs a fool-proof plan to stay alive.
This pufferfish fancies his chances of an easy meal.
But our crab has a secret weapon... The perfect pair of boxing gloves.
A blistering left hook makes this fish think again!
[cheering] And that's because those 'gloves' are in fact sea anemones.
Tiny relatives of jellyfish, they have a cocktail of powerful toxins in their tiny tendrils... Every time the crab lands a punch - The anemone delivers a painful sting.
The puffer fish won't try that again in a hurry.