OK, this is the cutest thing I’ve learned about all week. Tiny, pugnacious pom-pom crabs have very thin shells, and so they use anemones to defend themselves, waving them around vigorously like boxing gloves. I wondered if they put them down to eat, but it seems that the anemones collect food as they are being swished through the water, and the crabs just nibble it off them. Kind of like licking your swiffer I suppose (ugh, gross).

The crab/anemone relationship is symbiotic, though it seems that the crab gets the better end of the deal. If one of its pom poms gets lost, the crab will just tear the other one in half. Each half will grow into a complete organism. Isn’t nature amazing?