Squat lobsters – such as this tiny specimen above – might well be squat, but lobsters they are not.
What are squat lobsters?
Squat lobsters belong instead to a group of crustaceans that also includes hermit crabs and porcelain crabs – which, to complicate things further, aren’t true crabs.
Members of this group have undergone an evolutionary transition from a shrimp-like ancestor to something shorter and, well, squatter, folding away their abdomen beneath their carapace.
True crabs did something similar, albeit from a different starting point on the crustacean family tree, while true lobsters retained their ancestral body plan.
How big are squat lobsters?
Squat lobsters are up to 10cm long (including the tail)
What do squat lobsters eat?
A squat lobster's diet is pretty varied, from crustaceans and marine worms to plankton, algae, and even dead animals and plants
Main image © Getty Images
