A minute soft-bodied crab that lives inside the shell of a bivalve mollusc, where it filters food particles from the water drawn into the shell by its host.
豆蟹
Family Pinnotheridae: Pinnotheres and other genera
Example sentencesExamples
They described the occurrence of a pinnotherid crab, Pinnixa faba, the so-called pea crab, in association with its pelecypod host, Tresus capax.
Whether due to the larvae's deliberate selection of a host or to improved survival under more favorable circumstances, pea crabs are found more often in larger mollusks, which filter a greater volume of seawater.
Thus, while the crabs cause no immediately life-threatening damage, the female pea crab - unable to survive outside its host once it becomes established - is by all other measures a true parasite.
Pinnotheres ostreum, and P. pisum, pea crab, are remarkably small crabs which live out their lives inside the shells of oysters or mussels.
Definition of pea crab in US English:
pea crab
noun
another term for oyster crab
Example sentencesExamples
Whether due to the larvae's deliberate selection of a host or to improved survival under more favorable circumstances, pea crabs are found more often in larger mollusks, which filter a greater volume of seawater.
They described the occurrence of a pinnotherid crab, Pinnixa faba, the so-called pea crab, in association with its pelecypod host, Tresus capax.
Thus, while the crabs cause no immediately life-threatening damage, the female pea crab - unable to survive outside its host once it becomes established - is by all other measures a true parasite.
Pinnotheres ostreum, and P. pisum, pea crab, are remarkably small crabs which live out their lives inside the shells of oysters or mussels.