Final Manager Interview and on the 6th Anniversary of this Project-- 1,839 Species!
Greetings to all 699 members of Crabs of the World! Thanks for increasing our new total of 1,839 species, 17 more than two months ago! In this 6th Anniversary post, we have an interview with the last of our five project managers, @sea-kangaroo, a naturalist and international scuba diver. Then links to a spectacular crab that’s new to iNaturalist, plus a focus on three amazing crabs that aren't new.
Q: How did you first become interested in crabs?
A: I've always been a general nature enthusiast, and the first crabs that caught my attention as a kid were the Coconut Crabs in a picture book, with their impressive size and strength; and the little blue-eyed Calcinus hermit crabs in tidepools in Hawai'i, which are abundant, brightly-colored, and bold enough that they'd go about their normal crab business even with me right there, watching and handling them. Later I read about the amazing spawning aggregations of horseshoe crabs and Christmas Island Red Crabs and really wanted to go see for myself. I eventually was able to and they were as wonderful as I'd imagined. Overall I like crabs' diversity of color, shape, and niche; their sometimes-pugnacious personalities; and that there are so many places where I can see them.
Q: Do you have any favorite crab species?
A: I particularly like the land crabs (Gecarcinidae). They're big and colorful, and since they're less tied to water than other crabs, can be found in all kinds of weird places. Christmas Island is of course ruled by this family and the public restrooms on the migration path often had crabs in them being funny: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47328 (or https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47330) I also really like Kona Crabs, which are really strangely-shaped and look like mammals when they're running away over the sand, and Australian soldier crabs, which at low tides cover the sand flats in such numbers it looks like the ground is moving. From a jetty once I got a front-row seat to see epic drama of soldier crabs vs. toadfish: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/15726779
Q: Do you have a memory of a special encounter with a crab while scuba diving?
A: I don't really have a particular big memory, just lots of little ones. The thing I love about scuba diving as opposed to freediving is that I'm not limited by my lung capacity, so I can hang out in one spot for a while and see what little critters or behaviors emerge. A sponge or piece of seaweed that turns out to be a camouflaged decorator crab, holes in coral heads that are full of coral hermit crabs waving their ferny antennae, baby Sea Cucumber Crabs climbing around in their host cucumber's oral tentacles, etc.
Q: Any crabs you'd particularly like to see that you haven't yet?
A: Geosesarma malayanum, a land crab often found in Nepenthes ampullaria pitcher plants, stealing prey from the pitchers! And I'd like to actually get photos and a decent look at a Kona Crab, which are very quick to run away and bury themselves.
Now... a crab that’s new to iNaturalist:
A Hoplophrys oatesii @rafi1 in Bali:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/105773368
These crabs aren’t new, but worthy of note:
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A Gecarcinus ruricola (Black Land Crab) by @djscho in Saba, Eastern Caribbean:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/109542112 -
A beautifully adorned Hyastenus (Kelp Crab) by @dama in Hawaii:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/111744035 -
A spectacular Dorippe frascone (Urchin Carrier Crab) photographed by @tantsusoo in Indonesia:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/115182990
inspired me to look at other observations of this amazing crab, first these in Indonesia:
by @davidr:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/20549015
by @zahnerphoto:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/41381151
by @craigjhowe:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/37259652
and by @maractwin:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/2074884
plus one by @franca2020 in The Philippines:
www.inaturalist.org/observations/68691052
If you read this far, a quick reminder to please add your crab observations to the project, as they are not automatically added. Thanks!
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