This week I have a mystery object for you that’s a bit of a crusty character:
Any idea what this little critter might be?
As always, you can leave your suggestions, thoughts and suggestions in the comments below. Have fun!
Zygoma
Adventures in natural history collections
Zygoma 
It looks like a seea-dwelling decapod which resembles an arachnid
You’re in the right family!
I’m with Wouter. Are those centimetre markings on the scale? In which case it is quite tiny, though spiny.
Is this the family that reminds me of Three Wise Men from the East?
Final (total) guess: is this actually a very young and small specimen that would otherwise have grown, and grown. And grown!
N.B. It’s adult, just small.
I’m not sure, but it doesn’t make me think of them, although the Superfamily might!
It looks like a type of spider crab – Lyre shaped shell? Fuzzy! 🙂
Is this a hydrothermal vent dwelling species of spider crab?
Not venty…
The closet I can get to this is Corystes cassivelaunus but it doesn’t look quite right. This specimen is much more coarse/pitted exoskeleton than the masked crab does.
Hi thanks for shariing this