Spiky baby creature found hitchhiking on trash bag in Gulf of Mexico, video shows
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shared an image of a cute little “hitchhiker” found while collecting coral samples in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Oh. My. Goodness. WOW,” researchers said in a Jan. 7 Instagram post accompanying a video of what they jokingly called the “cutest, spikiest, tiniest little crab in the world.”
“Don’t quote us on that – it’s called hyperbole,” the agency said.
While scientists may have been exaggerating, commenters on the post suggest it was an accurate description.
“Some call it hyperbole, some call it a probability,” one commenter said.
“The cutest thing I have ever ever seen,” another replied.
“I’m not trying to be dramatic but I would commit crimes for this little guy,” another Instagram user said under the post.
“Wow, you all really love this little guy,” the NOAA said in a follow-up comment identifying the pointy creature perched on the researcher’s finger as a juvenile Neolithodes agassizii, or king crab.
The crab was found Aug. 6 at a depth of nearly 3,500 feet while scientists were collecting deep-sea coral samples, the agency said.
“We suspect it was a hitchhiker on a black plastic garbage bag we removed from the seafloor,” the NOAA said in the post.
This species of king crab is found in the western Atlantic ocean.
