Happy Thought for 23 June, 2022

 Have a Happy Thought: 

 There exists in this world, crabs that wear sponges on their backs like little fluffy coats.

 In fact, there are a bunch of species of crab that do this, they are known as sponge crabs (family Dromiidae).

I know, it’s going to be hard to remember that…

 Apparently when the crab is young, it finds a sponge and cuts a piece of the sponge off (this doesn’t hurt the sponge; this is how they propagate, really). Then the crab dedicates a couple of its limbs to holding the sponge in place on its back.

 Over time, the sponge grows to cover the entire carapace (outside skeleton) of the crab, and they live out their lives together.

 A new species of sponge crab was recently named, in Western Australia - Lamarckdromia beagle (yes, named after Darwin’s ship).

Here’s some cool photos so you can see just how “fuzzy” these crabs can get:

A–B, male holotype, 40.5 × 39.0 mm (WAM C15512)

A, frontal view carrying sponge cap;

B, retail of “face”.

C, female paratype, 44.0 × 45.5 mm (WAM C43596), ventral view of sternum of mated female showing vestigial first pleopods, sternal sutures 7/8 and sperm plaque covering spermathecal apertures.

Source: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5129.3.1

 

In researching this, I fell down a hole… or is it an ocean… of information.

Did you know there is a World Register of Marine Species? Where every known ocean-based organism is listed, and there are a bunch of photos?

Now you do.

Enjoy.

 

 

Finally, I want to wish everyone in Aotearoa/New Zealand: Mānawatia a Matariki (Happy Matariki/New Year!)

If you, like me, feel like you’ve got more to learn about this, check out this awesome list of ways to learn more (including recipes!):

https://twitter.com/aleishaamohia/status/1538636552817233920?s=20&t=DlH3-jMX4OgGd6ecJM1sgA

 

 

Thanks to the Guardian for bringing these fuzzy crabs to our attention

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/20/fluffy-crab-that-wears-a-sponge-as-a-hat-discovered-in-western-australia


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