Crabby crab crab

November 4, 2008 6:46 AM

What's this peculiar crab-like creature?

I took the picture of some barnacles while in Scotland, and had my lens right down on the barnacle surface - I have a 1cm macro. I didn't see these little guys with my eyes so have no idea on how big they really are.

posted by mippy to Science & Nature (3 answers total)

It could be a juvenile crab of any number of species, or it could be a pea crab. I doubt anyone could tell exactly what species from that photo.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 8:02 AM on November 4, 2008

Response by poster: It's a crop-down so is a bit blurry. I've never been that close-up to barnacles to see these before. They're smaller than barnacles, are baby crabs that small?
posted by mippy at 8:33 AM on November 4, 2008

Can't tell what type of crab it is from that picture, but I can affirm that yes, baby crabs can be very small. Barnacles can also be big, so the relative size is not all that meaningful (unless you know the size of these particular barnacles).
posted by Jemstar at 1:25 PM on November 4, 2008