Photo of the Day 414

Hermit Crab, Republic of Palau, 2003

Photograph by Tim Laman

A glowing hermit crab tentatively peeks out of its coral burrow in Palau. This island nation, along with nine independent countries, eighteen territories, and Hawaii, composes the Micronesia-Fiji-Polynesia biodiversity hotspot. Rich in vulnerable endemic species, this hotspot encompasses more than 1,400 islands—and an area twice the size of the continental United States.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Hotspots: Preserving Pieces of a Fragile Biosphere," March 2003, National Geographic magazine)