Let me introduce you to one of the freakish partnerships among aquatic animals.

What you’re looking at is a Carrier crab. These Crabs are found in various parts of the Indian Ocean. What makes them special is the fact that they have formed a symbiotic relationship with the Long-spine Sea Urchins. A symbiotic relationship is an intimate interaction between two or more species which may be beneficial or harmful. In the case of the Carrier crab and the sea urchin, it is a beneficial interaction.

The Carrier crab just like the name suggests carries the Urchin around. The crabuses two of its legs to hold on to the sea urchin while the other two do the walking, the claws are kept at the ready.

Seas urchins have long sharp spines that can painfully poke any predators that come nearby. It also gives the crab easy covering when it is moving across long flat sea beds when it is at its most vulnerable. The sea urchin who is slow is given fast transport to new, ripe feeding areas,

which the crab naturally gravitates to anyways. These relationships have been in occurring for tens of thousands of years and continues to this day.