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Next article FreeAbout the CoverPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreThe cover image depicts the symbiotic relationship between the shell-forming sea anemone Stylobates calcifer sp. nov. (Yoshikawa & Izumi, 2022) and the hermit crab Pagurodofleinia doederleini (Doflein, 1902). The image shows the living states of the paratype specimens deposited in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan, as NSMTCo 1795, collected from the Sea of Kumano off the coast of the Kumano Region of the Kii Peninsula, Honshu, Japan.In this issue (pp. 127–152), A. Yoshikawa, T. Izumi, T. Moritaki, T. Kimura, and K. Yanagi describe S. calcifer sp. nov. as a new carcinoecium-forming (CF) anemone species from the Pacific coast of Japan. The symbiotic association between hermit crabs and sea anemones is a classic example of mutualism in the sea. However, because CF relationships occur mainly on the deep-sea floor, records of the living state of the specimens are rare and limited. In addition to the difficulty of the specimen collection and sample preservation, the very thin, flat-concave shape, depending on the host shell, has led to the difficulty of the taxonomical examination of the Stylobates group.In collaboration with the Japanese Toba Aquarium, the authors conducted behavioral observations of this new species, focusing on feeding behaviors and interaction with the specific host hermit crab. Their observations suggest that this new sea anemone may feed on suspended particulate organic matter from the water column or the food residuals produced by hermit crab feeding. Moreover, when the sea anemone transfers to the new shell after the host hermit crab’s shell is changed, the sea anemone climbs up and settles down with its oral disk facing upward (the position shown in the cover photograph). These observations may lead to a new hypothesis that the upward-facing position of S. calcifer sp. nov. is an adaptation for feeding on suspended particulate organic matter from the water column. Their study represents what is perhaps the first observation of behavioral interactions of CF mutualism in the deep sea.Credits: Photo, Akihiro Yoshikawa, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo. Cover design: Olivia Kinker, University of Chicago Press. Next article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Biological Bulletin Volume 242, Number 2April 2022 Published in association with the Marine Biological Laboratory Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/720918 Views: 438Total views on this site © 2022 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.