Grayscale

The walk into work this morning. I love the way things fade in the distance.

Tuesday Crustie: Oh captain! My captain!

“A lobster-pirate with a love of language.” Now there’s a group of words you probably never expected to see in that order. Captain Claw, from the Canadian Broadcasting Company.

Tuesday Crustie: I’m absolutely serious

An amphipod crustacean in the genus Eusirus, nearly 10 cm long, caught off the Antarctic Peninsula. Photo by Cédric d’Udekem d’Acoz, from here.

(You may need to read the genus name out loud to get the title of this post.)

Tuesday Crustie: “I hate a Barnacle as no man has done before”

Today is the 150^th anniversary of the publication of On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life by Charles Darwin. Although I’ve already featured a crustacean that Darwin collected, it seems appropriate to feature a couple more Darwinian crustaceans.

On his famed trip around the world on the H.M.S. Beagle, Darwin collected many crustaceans. When he returned, the collection was scattered and partly lost. But here is just one crab collected by Darwin himself, one of many from Oxford collection of Darwin’s crustaceans:

Darwin’s crab collection recently went on tour to Australia.

Crustaceans are mentioned in the Origin:

(E)ven the illustrious Cuvier did not perceive that a barnacle was, as it certainly is, a crustacean; but a glance at the larva shows this to be the case in an unmistakeable manner.

It is no accident to find reference to barnacles, since Darwin had some years earlier published major monographs on barnacles, a plate from which is the second Tuesday Crustie, which shows some of the larvae that showed that barnacles were crustaceans:

Description of the plate is here. For comparison, here’s a live one, taken from here:

Darwin spent years trying to sort out the barnacles. Jonathan Weiner argues in The Beak of The Finch barnacles forced Darwin to confront the problem of variation, and the difficulties of determining what is a species and what is merely a “variety.” And it was not an easy task, as indicated in the title of this post, which was taken from a letter Darwin wrote to W.D. Fox.

Who doesn’t love a good Venn diagram?

That said, this only covers the main science portion of the blog, not the various other concerns addressed here.

Tuesday Crustie: Termite of the sea

 

This squat lobster, Munida andamanica, has been in the news recently for its peculiar ability to eat wood. Picture from here.

Additional:  For more on the science behind the discovery of this animal’s diet, see this post on Deep-Sea News.

Tuesday Crustie: Strigose

Strigose (from the New Latin strigosus, from striga row of bristles, from Latin, furrow): having appressed bristles or scales <a strigose leaf>

And you needed to know that to fully appreciate the name for this squat lobster, Galathea strigosa. (It’s the one in front, not that chordate interloper in back.)

Tuesday Crustie: Hypertrophy

Species unknown, but apparently some sort of Brachyura.

From Attack of the Crab Monsters. Roger Corman, we love you!

Tuesday Crustie: Peek-a-boo!

Hermit crab (Pagurus bernhardus).

Photo by David Spreekmeester on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

Tuesday Crustie: Take me to your leader

A porcelain crab, Petrolisthes elongatus. The photographer titled it, "The face of the alien," and more than a few aliens in old movies did look very crustacean inspired.

Picture by user Nuytsia@Tas on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons license.

Tuesday Crustie: Red mantis

I suspect stomatopods, also known as mantis shrimp, like this Gonodactyllaceus randalli, will get more than their fair share of representation in this feature. They have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, and no doubt is that is partly because they are looking at each other. Amazing colours, with reflection in the parts of the spectrum that humans can’t detect, and patterns using polarized light that humans are insensitive to.

By user prilfish on FLickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

Tuesday Crustie: Look to the right...

A dotillid crab, Ilyoplax pusilla. From Toho University Tokyo Bay Ecosystem Research Center.

Tuesday Crustie: Ghostly claw

The Murray cray, Euastacus armatus. This impressive, spiny species is protected in Australia.

Picture by user Aaron Gustafson on Flickr used under a Creative Commons license.

Tuesday Crustie: Greenback

A land crab, Sesarma dehaani.

Photo by user redslmdr on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

Tuesday Crustie: Lobster love

Species unclear, but probably American clawed lobster (Homarus americanus).

Spotted at Deep Sea News.

Tuesday Crustie: Bigger than a big, big thing

Big prawn in Ballina, New South Wales. Species uncertain.

Picture by user Happy Little Nomad on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons license.

Lab invader! And... it’s kind of cute!

Does this look like something deserving a message in all capitals and a triple exclamation point?


This little guy found his way into my lab today. It’s a recently hatched Mediterranean gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus), which are quite common here. Herbert (for that is what I named him – or her, makes no nevermind) was duly released back into the local habitat.

Tuesday Crustie: Mud bug

Not only is there a large commercial harvest of Louisiana red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), and not only is it a terribly invasive pest species in many parts of the world, they are the “white lab rat” of crustacean research. But this picture shows why many people in the southern U.S. call them, “mud bugs.”

From user birdgal5 on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

Tuesday Crustie: Dappled

Periclimenes brevicarpalis.

From budak on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.

Tuesday Crustie: The colour purple

A porcelain crab, Petrolisthes violaceus.

From Ivan Hinojosa on Flickr and used under a Creative Commons license.