Baby crab stunned the world with its prickly charm: scientists showed video

21.01.2025/23/00 XNUMX:XNUMX    1258

An adorable and funny baby king crab accidentally caught by NOAA researchers in the Gulf of Mexico has become an instant sensation. Moreover, the adults of this species of crab are by no means defenseless.

Amazing facts about king crab are told by RBC-Ukraine (Styler project) with reference to science alert.

The tiny spiky ball landed on a research boat in a bag of coral samples that scientists were collecting for research. Scientists believe the tiny guest is a juvenile of a subspecies of king crab, Neolithodes agassizii.

In a video released by NOAA, a tiny Neolithodes agassizii sits motionless on a scientist's glove. The unexpected journey and new environment seem to have confused the crab.

However, if scientists' guesses about the crustacean species are accurate, the adult Neolithodes agassizii will certainly surprise - but this time with its menacing appearance.

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These spiny creatures typically live at depths of 200 to 1900 meters and grow to be about 12 cm from head to tail, not including legs, as adults. So this specimen is still very young, only about the width of a finger, and it has clearly yet to grow out its bizarre “hair” of spines.

Baby crab stunned the world with its prickly charm: scientists showed video




Adults of Neolithodes agassizii live in the cold waters of the Gulf of Mexico (photo: wikipedia.org, User: NOAA)

But the baby king crab's appearance isn't the only thing that's admirable. Some of the crustaceans, scientists have discovered, ride on plump little sea cucumbers of the genus Scotoplanes.

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The reason for using "transport" is that the crabs' habitat is full of large muddy flats with little vegetation to hide from danger. Therefore, the vulnerable little crustaceans resort to using other animals for shelter.

Sea cucumbers provide the perfect cover. Like harmless scavengers, these translucent creatures spend their days crawling listlessly along the seabed in search of bits of dead animals and slime.

Baby crab stunned the world with its prickly charm: scientists showed video

Scotoplanes sea cucumber (photo: wikipedia.org, User: NOAA)

In 2016, researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute observed about 2600 sea cucumbers and found that nearly a quarter of them were used by young king crabs Neolithodes diomedeae for locomotion.

So maybe the famous baby crab mistook the bag for a translucent sea cucumber.

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Interestingly, despite their name, king crabs are not actually true crabs. Their last common ancestor with true crabs lived 250 million years ago.

King crabs are just one of many species that have become similar to crabs due to similar selection pressures. This phenomenon is called convergent evolution - the same trait evolving in unrelated species.

King crabs evolved from hermit crabs and lost the need for a shell about 25 million years ago. Unlike true crabs, which have eight walking legs, king crabs have only six walking legs. They also have a large claw for attacking and a smaller claw for feeding.