Arthopoda, Eastern Pacific

Decapoda (Shrimps, Crabs, Lobsters); Stomatopoda (Mantis Shrimp); Cirripeadia (Barnacles)

Crab: Pugettia producta, Northern Kelp Crab, with barnacle hitchhikers.<br />
Golf Ball Reef, Redondo Beach, California.<br />
Note from Gregory Jensen:<br />
All spider crabs have a terminal molt - that is, the molt at which they attain sexual maturity is the last one they ever do. So they can get pretty beat up and covered with barnacles, etc. as they age. Crabs that don't have a terminal molt (e.g., Dungeness, shore crabs, etc.) just start having longer and longer times between molts.

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Crab: Pugettia producta, Northern Kelp Crab, with barnacle hitchhikers.
Golf Ball Reef, Redondo Beach, California.
Note from Gregory Jensen:
All spider crabs have a terminal molt - that is, the molt at which they attain sexual maturity is the last one they ever do. So they can get pretty beat up and covered with barnacles, etc. as they age. Crabs that don't have a terminal molt (e.g., Dungeness, shore crabs, etc.) just start having longer and longer times between molts.

Pugettia producta3 140329

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