Cargo Cult's Comments

The crab parasite's actually even worse than the description given here - it's not a slug, it's a kind of barnacle. A crustacean, like the crab.

http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/crab_parasitism.html

The host crab is chemically castrated, and the distended growth at the base of the abdomen is the barnacle's brood chamber - and how does it breed?

"A male cyprid of the same species of barnacle attaches itself to the opening of this brood chamber, and then grows inside a special chamber within the female barnacle which itself is inside the body of the parasitised crab. This male growth forms into a testis. The female then effectively becomes a hermaphrodyte, which means that it can fertilise itself."

A parasite of a parasite.
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  • Member Since 2012/08/04


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