Hermit crabs and cockroaches emerge as unlikely seed dispersers on a Japanese island

On Japan's Ishigaki Island, a chlorophyll-free parasitic plant called fungus root turns out to depend on land hermit crabs and Australian cockroaches to spread its seeds, according to a study by Kobe University biologist Kenji Suetsugu.

Researchers had expected ants to do the work, given the plant's detachable fruit layer, but mesh-net experiments showed ant-only fruits went untouched. A camera snapping photos every 50 seconds over 89 hours instead caught crabs and roaches feeding at night, with hermit crabs carrying an average of 86 fruits externally and excreting viable seeds after digestion.

The study adds land hermit crabs to the short list of animals known to disperse seeds both externally and internally, and suggests invertebrates on shaded forest floors may be doing unnoticed ecological work.

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