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Surface on a sea yielding zero for lobster or similar (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

crustacean

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'zero for lobster or similar' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'surface on a sea' is the wordplay.
'surface' becomes 'crust' (crust can mean something's surface).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a' becomes 'an'.
'sea' becomes 'ace' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'an' after 'ace' is 'acean'.
'crust'+'acean'='CRUSTACEAN'

'yielding' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for crustacean that I've seen before include "life form with hard case" , "Animal like a crab" , "E.g. crab, lobster, woodlouse" , "Such as a crab or shrimp" , "crab, for example?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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