Image missing.
New species looks like a fuzzy pink hermit crab wig

Laura Baisas

created: Nov. 5, 2025, 3 p.m. | updated: Nov. 14, 2025, 2:22 p.m.

A team from Kumamoto University in Japan recently uncovered a deep-sea anemone that has a tight bond with hermit crabs. This newly identified anemone is named Paracalliactis tsukisome, and was found living on the shells inhabited by the hermit crab Oncopagurus monstrosus. The hermit crab benefits from this partnership with the anemone by achieving a larger body size than its relatives. Similarly, the Atlantic hermit crab species Pagurus arrosor will carry a single Calliactis anemone on top of the snail shell it lives in. The team believes that this name honors the anemone’s delicate color and its partnership with its hermit crab host.

1 week, 1 day ago: Popular Science