Crustaceans, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 23, 2015

Boxing Mantis Shrimp Prefer Flurry of Hits Over Knockout Punches

When you're one of nature's greatest pound-for-pound punchers, getting into a dispute over territory or mates can quickly turn ugly. Mantis shrimp are notorious for their clublike front limbs, which they use to kill prey. These fearsome appendages are capable of the world's fastest limb movement and have even been...

Sep 30, 2015

King Crabs Arrive in Antarctic, with Claws Out for Biodiversity

The king crab could soon take over a whole new kingdom, and it has global warming to thank for the conquest. King crabs live on seafloors all over the world (perhaps most famously off the Alaskan coast), but scientists didn't know that these large crustaceans had ventured all the way...

Apr 12, 2016

Red Crabs Swarm Like Insects in Incredible Underwater Video

A strange cloud of disturbed silt in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Panama unexpectedly led marine biologists to an incredible sight: thousands of red crabs close to the sea bottom that were swarming like insects, according to the researchers. The scientists were in a submersible investigating biodiversity at...

Jun 2, 2016

Males' Oversize Right Claw Lures Crustacean Ladies

What makes a female marine crustacean swipe right on a prospective mate? If she's Dulichiella appendiculata — a tiny relative of the sand-hopping beach flea — she's impressed by the size of the male's enlarged right front claw, which is significantly bigger than its left one. And she definitely prefers...

Jun 15, 2016

Male Fiddler Crabs Entrap Females In Their Bachelor Pads

Male banana fiddler crabs take courting to a new, and pushy, level: The little Australian crab males wait for females to enter their burrows and then trap them in order to mate, scientists have found. Competition for mates is intense for banana fiddler crabs (Uca mjoebergi), the researchers said, with...

Jul 13, 2016

Do Lobsters Live Forever?

Many animals that live in the deep, dark sea are subject to myths, and lobsters are no different. But one particular “belief” — that lobsters would be immortal were it not for fishermen and hungry predators — doesn't exactly hold water, biologists told Live Science. Lobsters age just like most...

Nov 15, 2016

Smash! Super-Stabby Mantis Shrimp Shows Off in Video

The mantis shrimp, that tiny toughie of the sea, smashes and stabs in a new video showing off the special talents of this predatory crustacean. The video, produced by KQED San Francisco's Deep Look, shows how some species of mantis shrimp use knockout blows to break open the shells of...

Nov 28, 2016

Coconut Crab's Pinch Is Strongest in the World

Watch your fingers! New research finds that the hulking coconut crab has the strongest pinch of any animal. In fact, this crustacean's claws can snap closed harder than most animals can bite — with the exception of alligators, according to the study published Nov. 23 in the journal PLOS ONE....

Jan 23, 2017

Accio Crab! Newfound Crab Honors Harry Potter and Professor Snape

A newfound crab named after Harry Potter wizards may not be magical, but its discovery is certainly enchanting. The late Harry Conley, an ex-Marine turned researcher, unearthed the tiny crustacean while digging along the shores of Guam, a U.S. territory located in the western Pacific Ocean. Twenty years passed between...

Jan 31, 2017

Cheerleaders of the Deep: How Pom-Pom Crabs Got Their Name

The mystery of a bizarre crab that is always found clutching two sea anemones in its claws may have been solved: The crabs clone their poufy accessories, new research suggests. Lybia leptochelis, also known as a boxer crab or a pom-pom crab, will fight over the sea anemones and then...

Feb 24, 2017

Octopus vs. Crab Showdown Ends with a Twist in Startling Video

Things weren't looking good for a swimmer crab under the glare of two divers' spotlights in Monterey Bay, California. The crab was being doggedly pursued by a red octopus and couldn't seem to make an escape. And then, a deux ex machina of an ending: In swooped a harbor seal...

Apr 12, 2017

Loud and Rosy-Clawed Pistol Shrimp Named for Rock Band Pink Floyd

A new species of pistol shrimp — small, burrowing crustaceans with one oversize claw — doesn't live on the dark side of the moon, nor is it a lost soul swimming in a fishbowl. Nevertheless, the researchers who described the shrimp proposed a name for the new species that is...

Apr 30, 2017

Animal Sex: How Lobsters Do It

Between their hard shells and strong pincers, American lobsters are built to fight and keep other creatures away. But does this combative, standoffish nature extend to mating? There are two general groups of animals called lobsters: clawed lobsters, which live in high-latitude, cold-water regions; and spiny lobsters, which are clawless...

Oct 25, 2017

Prozac Puts Crabs in a Mood to Take Deadly Risks

Crabs drugged with Prozac are behaving badly, or at least in risky ways, new research finds. The researchers weren't interested in finding the right dose of the antidepressant (generic name fluoxetine hydrochloride) to treat anxious or depressed crabs. Rather they were interested in seeing how the drug, which makes its...

Nov 11, 2017

In Your Face! Male Crabs Gloat with 'Victory Dance'

Some male animals are known for busting a move in elaborate mating dances to woo prospective mates. But some crab males perform a special dance for the males they've just defeated in combat, to discourage them from coming back for more, according to a new study. Scientists had previously observed...