Hermit Crab attempts to evict a large Baler Snail..!!

A couple of weeks ago, whilst on the second of two dives at Mae Haad/Koh Ma with "buddy" Marcel Waldis, we came across the very unusual (and quite comical) sight of a White-Spotted Hermit Crab (Dardanus Megistos) seemingly attempting to wrestle a very large Indian Volute Baler Snail (Melo Melo) out of its shell..

It's not uncommon to find this large species of Hermit Crab inhabiting Baler Shells, but the common assumption is that they usually take ownership of the empty shell of a dead snail, or one that has been discarded by a larger crab that.

We watched the struggle for around ten minutes, as the Hermit Crab repeatedly pulled at the snail, which in turn did its best to shake off the persistent crustacean.

Eventually, the snail made a run for it (at a snail's pace), hotly pursued by the crab.

Not doubt they continued their squabble for quite some time, although its anyone's guess as to the outcome...

Unfortunately, the visibility on this second dive had dropped to less than two meters, and the current was pushing lots of sediment around so the footage (shot on video mode on my camera) isn't the clearest.

Thanks to Woody Kennedy for merging the two clips together and "rendering" them (whatever that means...).