Oyster crab
| Oyster crab | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Z. ostreus on Crassostrea virginica | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Pinnotheridae |
| Genus: | Zaops |
| Species: | Z. ostreus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Zaops ostreus (Say, 1817) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
|
The oyster crab (Zaops ostreus) is a small, whitish or translucent crab in the family Pinnotheridae. Found specifically in oysters, they are an edible sea food delicacy.
It is less than half an inch across, and lives inside the gills of an oyster or a clam. It uses the oyster for protection and lives on the food that the oyster gets for itself. It is found in oysters in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Zaops ostreus is found along the eastern seaboards of North America and South America, from Massachusetts to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
...
Wikipedia