A one-cubic-foot approach to studying biodiversity as showcased in the new Biocubeexhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has led to the discovery and naming of a new species of pea crab in the Solomon Islands. Serenotheres janus was recently discovered by students and Smithsonian scientists during a Biocube collaboration, a project in which 12-inch cube frames are placed in diverse habitats around the globe and all of the animal and plant species that are inside or pass through the cubes are documented.
During a 2014 Solomon Islands expedition, students placed a biocube on a portion of the reef off of Njari Island that contained a large chunk of dead coral. “The students extracted the cube, brought it back to the boat and took it apart,” explains Chris Meyer, Natural History Museum mollusk expert and a principal researcher with Biocubes.
Inside they found a live boring date mussel (Leiosolenus obesus), a mollusk shaped like a bullet that bores deep into the hard coral material for protection. Prying open the mussel, Meyer discovered a tiny cream-colored parasitic pea crab living inside.-Read More
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