Somehow this miniature hairy squat lobster ended up with
a near-florescent pinkish-purple hue, little yellow eyes, and a thick
golden fleece all over. And at just a few millimetres long, it’s as
compact as it is adorable.Seriously, just stop and consider how small that
actually is – these things are smaller than your fingernail, which
explains where they got their nickname ’fairy crab’ from.Found off the coast of Western Australia,
Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan, the hairy squat lobster (Lauriea
siagiani) makes its home on giant barrel sponges (Xestospongia
testudinaria), where it sits and catches ocean detritus in its ‘fur’It then uses its smaller, ’un-hairy’ legs to
collect the particles and eat them. And it looks a whole lot stranger
than it sounds…
This bewhiskered “Fairy Crab” is the tiniest teddy bear of the ocean
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