Meet Bruce

"Hello. My name is Bruce."

Bruce is a 10-kilogram Tasmanian giant crab, Pseudocarcinus gigas. He got that big feasting on crabs, snails, and other inverts in the waters off of Australia (the P. gigas range is from the Perth coast in Western Australia to the coast of Victoria, at depths of 100 - 270 meters!).

"I'd shake your hand, but I like to use my massive claw

for crushing food items and the like. No offense."

Bruce is the big man on campus at the Sydney Aquarium's Claws exhibition while the international star, a Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi - like this guy), sits out her quarantine: the aquarium needs to be sure, assuming the crab is female, no larvae will make their way into Australian waters, which should be set up anyway for all the crustaceans they're housing (we have a system at the University of Alaska Southeast wet lab to make sure no snow crab larvae make it into southeast waters).

"I'm kind of a big deal. Like, 4-meter leg span big."

Plus they're testing Crabzilla for any possible radioactive contamination from the Fukujima plant leak back in March, as the large spider crab caught for this exhibit was brought in after the Japanese tsunami. Which is a good thing to test for, because you don't want this to happen:

Attennnnn - TION!

Back in March I read an exciting and sad article about a new crab species. I wanted to wait until the genetic results came back before reporting to you, but I just got too impatient.

Meet the newest soldier crab:

Do you recognize this soldier crab? Neither did the scientists on a Thailand crab survey!

The “new” species of giant soldier crab was discovered in Satun province, Thailand (maybe). Puntip Wisespongpand of Kasetsart University, chief researcher on a crab survey led in the Satun, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Songkhla provinces, found the unfamiliar crabs and sent them away for DNA analysis (hence all the waiting in new-species anticipation!). A new crab may not be too shocking for Thailand, proud home of about 800 crab species, but this small soldier (carapace width ~ 14 mm) is already fighting for survival. The potentially new crab was discovered at the future sight of a potential deep sea port, the Pak Bara Beach; the deep sea port at Pak Bara Beach is slated for expansion of the petrochemical industry in southern Thailand.

circled: Satun Province, Thailand

(Bangkok is starred for reference)

Bummer, right? Until we know for sure if it’s a new crab species, and we see what happens with the Pak Bara Beach, let’s learn some more about soldier crabs in general. (Ha, get it? General soldier crab info??)

• Soldier crabs have their own taxonomic family: Mictyridae (genus = Mictyris)

• They are filter feeders, thriving on mud flats and beaches where they can filter the sand for interstitial fauna and detritus

• Their feeding behavior results in hundreds of little sandy balls during low tide, similar to the sand bubbler crabs featured on Blue Planet!

If you know any more information about this new crab, feel free to comment!

Happy Australia Day!

I was going to share a paper with you about snow crabs, but when I looked at my calendar I saw that today is Australia Day (like Columbus Day for the States, so a bit controversial if I understand it correctly). So I’ve decided to celebrate an awesome Australian crab: the GIANT CRAB Pseudocarcinus gigas!

Bo Jones with a P. gigas off of Tasmania

(I got to meet him at the Lowell Wakefield conference in '09!)

The giant crab (aka Australian giant crab, giant Tasmanian crab, king crab OR queen crab) is a deepwater species that can grow up to 14 kg! Despite that, most are harvested around 4 kg, with male and female size limits = minimum carapace length of 150 mm and maximum carapace length of 215 mm. The nice thing is that, given females can be harvested too, berried females are illegal and have to be thrown back.

giant crab enjoying the seafloor

The fishery started in Tasmanian waters in 1990 and then in South Australian waters in 1992, so it’s a relatively young fishery. The giant crabs are sold either live, fresh green (ie dead), cooked, or pickled, and mostly exported.

historical catch of giant crabs for the South Australian fishery

Unfortunately, at least in 2006, an assessment of the fishery declared it “growth overfished” (other fishery info here and here). In the meantime, they are managed for their fishery and as by-catch in the rock lobster fishery.

Have a great day and good luck to the giant crab!