The Porifera often grow on or near other organisms, sometimes killing those they cover; the sessile (attached) barnacle Balanus balanoides, for example, may be killed in this way. In other cases, associations may provide advantages to both organisms, particularly those between sponges and crustaceans. Some crustaceans, mainly crabs, use sponges for camouflage by removing a piece of a living sponge and holding it against their carapace (shell); the best known example of this type of mutualistic association is that of the sponge Suberites domuncula and hermit crabs, which live in the shells of gastropod mollusks. The advantage to the sponge ...(100 of 6824 words)