A marine iguana has been photographed appearing to wear a bright red Sally Lightfoot Crab as a bow tie on Fernandina Island in the Galápagos archipelago.
Wildlife photographer Dale Morris captured the unusual sight while looking for the islands’ distinctive speckled marine iguanas. In one image, a crab is clinging around the lizard’s neck as it rests on a rocky mound.
Further photographs show three fluorescent Sally Lightfoot Crabs gathered on another iguana as a wave breaks over them. Other images show the crabs crawling towards resting reptiles, with neither species appearing troubled by the other’s presence.
Mr Morris said: “I was out on the Island looking for Marine Iguanas when I came across this very funny sight.
“Sally Lightfoot Crabs were crawling around and one had ended up clinging on to an Iguana around its neck, making it look like the Iguana was wearing a bow tie.”
Marine iguanas are endemic to the Galápagos Islands, an archipelago located just over 900 kilometres off the coast of Ecuador. Sally Lightfoot Crabs are coastal scavengers found across the islands and along the western coast of South and Central America.
The reptiles and crustaceans are known to share a distinctive relationship. Before marine iguanas head into the water to forage for seaweed, the crabs help clean their black scales, gaining a meal while the lizards receive what amounts to a pre-foraging manicure.
