I presume the object under the crab is an egg sac, but all the examples I found on the web (admittedly all were from aquariums - I could find none from nature) were red in color. Can anyone help?
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Pom Pom or Boxer Crab Egg sac
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Yes, this is a parasite egg mass. The parasite infects the crab (often a barnacle parasite) and then changes the crab to a female (if it is not already) and makes the crab do its nefarious bidding - produce more parasite eggs.
The crabs are otherwise health - which of course is in the parasites interest too.
Alex
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Dear Alex (excuse the informality from a stranger!),
I had a hopeless time with the Wetpixel password and gave up trying for almost a year, so I just now got your response from last December. Many, many thanks. This is certainly something I would not have guessed in a million years and no one else knew either.
As I already told you in a prior email years ago answering a question about close up wide angle photography, I LOVE YOUR MARVELOUS IMAGES.
Karen
