Things you witness under the sea never cease to amaze … At the beginning of a coral spawning night dive I saw a King Helmet snail (Cassis tuberosa) and a reef hermit crab (Paguristes cadenati) under a coral head… Nothing abnormal right? But there was a sea urchin (Echinometra viridis) nearby as well that I didn’t even pay attention to at first. All of a sudden King Helmet started moving very fast and before I knew it, the reef sea urchin was on top of the opening of the helmet, trying to escape. I filmed it a bit but I was on a schedule to go and observe a Pillar Coral for spawning, so I left. At the end of the dive, I made a stop at the same coral head and saw that the sea urchin was pretty much destroyed. You can see the paralytic enzyme (mucus like grey substance) in the close up shot towards the end. Apparently sea urchins are a favorite food source of the king helmet. Once it captures the urchin, it releases a paralytic enzyme from its salivary gland which keeps the urchin from moving and then it makes a hole in the outer shell and secretes sulphuric acid which then dissolves the shell. Information obtained from YME & Cat Island Conservation Institute website. There was a lot of sand that was stirred up during the struggle of the sea urchin and the helmet.

The funny part is that the hermit crab lurking in the scene on all the shots… sort of the spectator for this hunting session, probably waiting for some crumbs to fall its way 😆

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