New Zealand Seashore

DSC_7410 Pea crab (Nepinnotheres novaezelandiae) hard-shelled adult male, inside its 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_7410 Pea crab (Nepinnotheres novaezelandiae) hard-shelled adult male, inside its 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 7410 Pea crab Pinnotheres Nepinnotheres novaezelandiae adult male Greenlipped mussel host parasite parasitic Brighton Beach