1. The Boxing Crab By Evan Alvarez

2. The Boxing Crab a.k.a. The Pom-Pom Crab

3. Classification  Kingdom: Animalia  Phylum: Arthropoda  Subphylum: Crustacea  Class: Malacostraca  Order Decapoda  Infraorder: Brachyura  Family: Xanthidae  Genus: Lybia  Species: tesselata

4.  The Boxing Crab is found in tropical marine habitats, usually in the Pacific or Indian Ocean.  They’re omnivorous.  They can live up to five years.  For the most part, they’re completely average crabs, except for one trait:

5. This is a Sea Anemone

6. Symbiosis  The Boxing Crab shows an example of mutualism. It holds a sea anemone on each of its claws, and then uses them for self- defense.

7.  For the crab, the anemone provide protection, as it’s stinging cells can protect it from predators.

8.  The anemone, in turn, receives scraps of food from whatever the crab feeds on.

10. Attempts at introducing the Boxing Crab to home aquariums have been met with great success, due to their good temperament.

11. The anemones cannot be kept through the molting process and are always discarded at those times.

12. But in these events, sponges or coral are usually substituted until new anemones can be found.

14. Boxing Crabs are tiny, tiny creatures. They don't usually grow much larger than a centimeter or two.

16. Sources Used www.saltwaterfish.com www.saltwaterfish.com www.saltwaterfish.com www.aquariaworld.co.uk www.aquariaworld.co.uk www.itis.gov (Integrated Taxonomic Integration System) www.itis.gov (Integrated Taxonomic Integration System) www.itis.gov www.wetwebmedia.com/PomPomCra bF.htm www.wetwebmedia.com/PomPomCra bF.htm