George Washington used to love having pea crabs floating in his oyster soup.

The pea crab lives in the mantle cavity of these hosts.

The pea crab solely relies on its host for food, safety, and oxygen.

Female New Zealand pea crabs spend their entire adult lives within a single host.

Pea crabs are edible and were once a delicacy in the United States.

Pea crabs have a variety of hosts, the most important of which are mollusks.

New Zealand pea crabs are completely reliant on their host for food, shelter and a place to mate.

Pinnotheridae is a family of pea crabs.

Adult female New Zealand pea crabs have a soft-shelled exoskeleton.

Mussels infected by pea crabs are also edible.

The mantle cavity often contains small pea crabs and shrimp which eat food filtered from the gills.

The tiny pea crab Pinnixa chaetopterana is sometimes found living as a commensal inside the tube behind the worm.

Horse clams often have a relationship with small commensal pea crabs of the species Pinnixa faba.

The hard exoskeleton and flattened body shape of the male New Zealand pea crab helps with this endeavour.

"Look," he said, pointing to a buglike critter wandering the oyster flesh, "a pea crab.

A pea crab is a tiny crab about the size of a pea that establishes itself inside shellfish.

They also share their burrow/home with other creatures such as the tube pea crab Pinnixa chaetopterana which they also use for protection.

Parapinnixa affinis is similar to other pea crabs of the genus Parapinnixa, especially P. nitida.

The New Zealand pea crab is found throughout New Zealand and can infect up to 70% of natural populations.

Pea crabs, family Pinnotheridae, are small crabs that live symbiotically with clams, tube worms, sea cucumbers, and other fauna.

The relationship between the pea crab and its host is one of parasitism, rather than mutualism, since the host may be harmed by the crab's feeding activities.

Pinnixa schmitti, the Schmitt pea crab, is a commensal of A. pacifica and is often found cohabiting in its burrow.

Parapinnixa affinis, the California Bay pea crab, is a species of pinnotherid crab endemic to Southern California.

The New Zealand pea crab collects food by sitting on the gills of the green-lipped mussel and stealing food strands from the mussel.

Pinnotheres is a genus of crabs, including the pea crab and New Zealand pea crab.