Episode Details

The relationships between two or more creatures are sometimes so well-designed and complex that there is no conceivable way that they could have evolved. Sacculina carcini is a microscopic crustacean that begins life as a free-swimming larva. The female first seeks out a crab for a host then she searches for a tiny hole in the crab's leg joint. Finding one, she inserts a hollow tube through the hole and squirts a few cells that are herself into the crab, leaving most of her body behind. As she grows as a large bulge on the underside of the crab, she is also sending tendrils throughout the crab's body.

 Ref: Discover, 8/00, pp. 80-85, "Do Parasites Rule the World?"  Image: A parasitical barnacle on a female swimming crab, from the Belgian coastal waters by Hans Hillewaer  CC By SA 4.0.

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