Z. adamsii is a small crab, described as "a torpid, though elegant little crustacean" by the English naturalist Arthur Adams when it was first discovered by him and the Scottish zoologist Adam White during the surveying voyage of HMS Samarang in the Far East between 1843 and 1846. The carapace and limbs are smooth and hairless and are adorned with long spines. The colour is pink with dark, reddish-brown vertical stripes. Z. adamsii feeds on its host's tube feet and on the epidermal tissue covering the test and the base of the spines. This does little harm to the host which readily regenerates both the tissue and the tube feet. Learn more about Zebra Urchin Crab