If there was ever a freaky deaky contest (and there may be — I tend to stick to the shallows of the internet), Mother Nature would win hands down. And she wouldn’t even show up to claim her prize, she’d be too preoccupied pushing the freaky deaky envelope out in the wild. Case in point: these videos of a deep sea crap wearing an anemone as a backpack. “I think you meant crab.” So I did — good catch.
“In addition to their long, thin walking legs, Homolidae crabs (also known as “porter crabs”) have modified rear appendages they use to pick up anemones and other things on the seafloor. Scientists speculate that this behavior could be related to physical camouflage, chemical camouflage, or predator defense.”
So the crabs use their custom modified appendages (thanks evolution!) to pick up and carry around anemones. But what are the anemones getting out of it? Is this relationship entirely one-sided? I have so many questions, but you know Mother Nature isn’t going to answer because she’s too busy stuffing spiders into frog butts or something.
