New crab species found in Ogasawara isles lives with worm

A team of Japanese researchers has found a new species of crab in the Mukojima island chain, part of the Ogasawara Islands south of Tokyo, that shares the abode of a worm.

The team, including Ryuta Yoshida, professor at the Marine Coastal Research Center of Ochanomizu University, said Thursday that the newly found crab has been named petankokoyubipinno. In Japanese petanko means flat.

Its shell is about 3 mm long and 7 mm wide, the researchers said.

The team found the crab during an ecological survey by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 2016.

The crab lives together with a marine worm in a hole, which can be up to 15 meters deep, dug by the worm on the sea floor. The hole is about 5 mm in =read more