New Zealand Seashore

DSC_7363 Pea crab (Nepinnotheres novaezelandiae) large gravid female, inside Green-lipped mussel host. Pea crabs are completely reliant on their hosts - usually mussels - for shelter and food. They steal filtered food from the mussel, damaging it's gills. Brighton Beach *

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DSC_7363 Pea crab (Nepinnotheres novaezelandiae) large gravid female, inside Green-lipped mussel host. Pea crabs are completely reliant on their hosts - usually mussels - for shelter and food. They steal filtered food from the mussel, damaging it's gills. Brighton Beach *

DSC 7363 Pea crab Pinnotheres Nepinnotheres novaezelandiae adult gravid female Greenlipped mussel host parasite parasitic Brighton Beach