Ar-1290 SACCULINA, Loxothylacus texanus

A degenerate parasitic barnacle that attacks crabs, Callinectes sapidus, sending branching roots throughout their bodies. This alters sexual characters and prevents molting in the crab. The barnacle is reduced to little except reproductive and absorptive tissues and represents parasitic modification at its most extreme form. Don’t just look at the textbook drawings; order the living animal attached to its host crab. Sporadically available.