oyster crab

oyster crab

n. A small crab (Zaops ostreum syn. Pinnotheres ostreum) of the western Atlantic Ocean that lives inside the shell of a bivalve mollusk, especially an oyster.

oyster crab

n (Animals) any of several small soft-bodied crabs of the genus Pinnotheres, esp P. ostreum, that live as commensals in the mantles of oysters

oys′ter crab`

n. any small, thin-shelled crab of the family Pinnotheridae: the female lives as a commensal in the gill cavity of bivalves.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

oyster crab - tiny soft-bodied crab living within the mantle cavity of oystersPinnotheres ostreumgenus Pinnotheres, Pinnotheres - type genus of the family Pinnotheridae: pea crabspea crab - tiny soft-bodied crab living commensally in the mantles of certain bivalve mollusks