Articles tagged with Crustaceans
Dr. Arthur Anker's research on alpheidae, a diverse family of snapping shrimp, has led to the discovery of two new species: Automate hayashii from Hokkaido, Japan, and Bermudacaris australiensis off Western Australia. These finds expand our understanding of this unique family's range and ecological diversity.
Research from the University of Michigan suggests that the current federal plan may not be enough to protect the Gulf of Mexico's half billion dollar a year shrimp industry. The proposed goal of 30 percent nitrogen load reduction is insufficient, and a reduction of 40-45 percent is needed to achieve desired results.
A new stable phase in the Gulf of Maine marine ecosystem has emerged, marked by expansive kelp beds and the dominance of crabs and lobsters. This change is attributed to a drastic reduction in top predators like cod, leading to trophic-level dysfunction.
A team of scientists found that the estuaries were resilient and recovered quickly from the storms, with most shellfish and finfish populations returning to normal. However, blue crabs took longer to recover due to overfishing and floodwaters disrupting their migration patterns.
Researchers recorded mantis shrimp's club-shaped front leg striking prey at peak speeds of 23 meters per second, generating forces over 100 times the shrimp's body weight. The unique saddle-shaped structure acts as a spring, storing energy until release propels the strike.
A study found that warmer water temperatures increase shrimp predation rates on juvenile winter flounder, leading to local extinction. The warming trend may explain the failure of winter flounder stocks to recover in affected areas.
A team from Stanford University is retracing the 1940s journey of John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts to document changes in the Sea of Cortez. The expedition aims to raise awareness about the impact of tourism on the region, with a focus on conservation and sustainability.
Virginia Tech's HCRC is the largest horseshoe crab research institution in the country, supporting research on sustainable management practices. The new funding will support a range of studies, including population size estimation, spawning habitat identification, and dynamics between horseshoe crabs and shorebirds.
Researchers discovered that mantis shrimp use fluorescent markings to enhance signaling in deep, blue ocean waters. The stomatopod's characteristic spots fluoresce yellow-green to increase visibility in the dim light.
Fossilized ghost crabs, up to 110,000 years-old, have been found on area beaches in central Florida. The rare discovery suggests that beach erosion, possibly caused by the construction of Port Canaveral, has exposed fossils that were previously hidden by dunes.
The live seafood trade is spreading non-native bivalves across the Pacific Northwest, posing a significant threat to local ecosystems. Researchers found that nearly as many ocean quahogs survived in the short-term as established species, highlighting the need for regulations and monitoring programs to control introductions.
Twelve invasive marine species have grown larger by up to 40%, including European green crabs and Chinese mitten crabs. The findings suggest that these animals are no longer held back by predators or parasites, leading to increased size.
A study published in Animal Behaviour found that female fiddler crabs are attracted to burrows, not just male courtship signals. The researchers suggest that some male signals may be designed to keep females safe as they search for a mate.
A new study by Stanford University found that cold-water crabs have a greater capacity to adjust their heat-tolerance thresholds than warm-water crabs. This counterintuitive finding suggests that cold-climate creatures may be more resilient to global warming.
Researchers discovered pulsar bursts coming from beachball-sized structures in the Crab Nebula, a cloud of debris from a supernova. The structure's small size is inconsistent with all but one proposed theory for generating radio emission.
A team of geologists has discovered a crab fossil within inches of a massive plant-eating dinosaur fossil in Egypt. The find, dating back to the Cretaceous Period, sheds light on the ecosystem where these species coexisted, revealing a diverse array of organisms including fish, sharks, and turtles.
Destructive fishing practices, such as bottom trawls, result in massive bycatch and habitat destruction, threatening the survival of fisheries. Experts agree that there are solutions, but change requires political will and action.
Researchers are conducting studies on shrimp to better understand the genetic basis for proteins causing allergic responses. By altering the epitopes in shrimp allergens, binding action could be stopped, potentially leading to allergen-free foods.
Two studies found that invasive species have significantly fewer parasites than their native competitors, allowing them to outcompete and devastatingly impact native ecosystems. This advantage is due to the poor match between parasite hosts in new environments.
Research finds that invasive animals typically have fewer parasites in new habitats, allowing them to dominate native populations. This advantage is attributed to the lack of matched parasites, enabling introduced species to outcompete less fit native species.
The study found that despite huge habitat losses, up to 90% of original crustacean diversity may still survive in the few remaining seasonal wetlands in Illinois. The researchers sampled 33 crustacean species from 13 ponds and estimated there could have been as many as 85 species originally.
Researchers investigate how warmer waters impact the interaction between sand shrimp and juvenile winter flounder, finding that increased water temperature allows more sand shrimp to survive and prey on vulnerable young fish. The study aims to understand the effects of global warming on marine ecosystems.
Researchers have determined the age of the oldest known meteorite impact on Earth, a catastrophic event that generated massive shockwaves billions of years before the dinosaur extinction. The ancient meteorite is estimated to be approximately 12 miles wide and was buried in rocks formed during the Archean eon.
The study found that when blue crabs disappeared from a salt marsh, periwinkle snails flourished, eating all the cordgrass and causing ecosystem collapse. Overgrazing by periwinkles can convert southern salt marshes into barren mudflats within eight months.
Researchers at Oregon State University found extremely low oxygen levels in the lower water column, leading to mass die-offs of rockfish, Dungeness crabs, sculpins, and other marine life. The unusual event is attributed to coastal upwelling and wind patterns, not human activities.
Scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Manchester have solved the structure of Beta-Crustacyanin, a protein that bends Astaxanthin's shape to create different colours. The discovery could lead to new uses of Astaxanthin as a drug-delivery mechanism and improve food colourants.
Cornell University marine biologists have found Japanese shore crabs in Penobscot Bay, a species that poses a direct threat to soft-shell clams, mussels, and lobsters. The discovery means the bay has become the most-northern point along the Atlantic seaboard where these invasive crabs have been spotted.
Researchers found that the snake uses a novel 'loop and pull' behavior to consume large crabs, overcoming limitations imposed by limb loss and body form changes. The behavior was recorded in a dark room with infrared video cameras and verified through observations of wild snakes consuming oversized prey.
Researchers discover tropical snake that tears apart and swallows soft-shelled crabs in pieces, unlike most snakes that swallow prey whole. This unique feeding behavior allows the snake to consume larger prey, and has implications for understanding vertebrate behavior.
Researchers are enhancing genetically altered algae to maximize its ability to pick up trace metals in Lake Erie, a potential game-changer for Great Lakes bio-remediation. Meanwhile, efforts to eradicate invasive Spartina anglica in Puget Sound aim to support native birds and the seafood industry.
A recent review article reveals that horseshoe crabs have an impressive survival rate of 7.5% after undergoing biomedical bleeding, suggesting their 350 million-year-long survival is remarkable. The research also provides new information on the habitat, migration patterns, and nursery grounds of horseshoe crabs.
The University of Southern Mississippi has received a $6 million grant from the EPA to conduct research on coastal waters using bioindicators. The four-year project will measure estuary health and develop predictive indicators for coastal managers.
The proposed regulations would result in a direct loss of $13.5 million annually and another $4.4 million in economic activity, leading to 459 job losses in the processing industry. Dorchester County on Maryland's Eastern Shore would be hardest hit, absorbing over 75% of the industry's direct losses.
Researchers are studying the small hairs on lobsters' antennules to capture odors at high resolution. By understanding how these hairs process information, scientists hope to create more efficient chemical-sensing systems for the Navy.
Researchers at UC Berkeley and Stanford University discovered how lobsters sniff their way around a watery world by flicking antennules into contact with chemosensory hairs sensitive to chemicals. This motion captures detailed maps of swirling odors, suggesting that small differences in odor concentration are preserved.
Researchers at Stanford University studied the Caribbean spiny lobster's ability to track odors using its antennules, finding that rapid downstroke allows high-resolution information capture while slow upstroke provides time for analysis. The findings could help develop robots for plume tracing underwater.
A Sea Grant study found no Asian or North American lung flukes in over 800 Chinese mitten crabs collected in the San Francisco Bay. The crabs were analyzed alongside more than 400 crayfish, all of which were also free of the parasites.
Preliminary findings from a deep-sea expedition have uncovered a vast array of new species in the Atlantic Ocean's abyssal plains. The discovery, part of the DIVA project, confirms the diversity of deep-sea life and reveals significant differences in sediment structure and fauna composition across different sites.
The HCRC combines faculty members, students, facilities, and expertise from several Virginia institutions to develop effective management strategies for horseshoe crabs. Researchers are conducting studies on population changes, biomedical industry impact, and shorebird interactions to inform conservation efforts.
A new study by Scripps researchers reveals that tiny marine crustaceans called copepods use cannibalism as a mechanism to limit their population. The study found that egg mortality in copepod species Calanus finmarchicus is directly related to the abundance of females in the population, suggesting a self-regulating mechanism.
Researchers at North Carolina State University are studying the life cycle and migration patterns of female blue crabs to ensure long-term sustainability. They aim to discover environmental cues that initiate their journey to spawning grounds, which is crucial for understanding the species' ecology and conservation.
Scientists have detected early indications of a lobster decline in the Gulf of Maine, with juvenile lobsters showing a 40% decrease in Penobscot Bay. The research team's approach to monitoring three stages of lobster life suggests widespread declines at least west of Penobscot Bay.
Researchers discovered that snapping shrimp produce sound by collapsing bubbles from their snapping claw. The bubbles collapse and generate a shock wave that stuns prey, using cavitation damage previously thought to be harmful to ship propellers.
Biologists at Cornell University and Max Planck Institute found that Daphnia crustaceans can evolve quickly to cope with polluted water. The study showed that these tiny crustaceans adapted to handle less nutritious food, becoming a natural control for toxic cyanobacteria in Lake Constance.
Researchers found shrimps detect trout chemical odour from upstream by creating tiny currents. This strategy allows shrimps to escape brown trout ambushes. Shrimps can sense trout presence through vision but not smell, and create backflow to avoid predation.
Researchers find that the Jamaican tree crab and its relatives are not related to ocean-dwelling crabs but evolved from a common Jamaican marine ancestor. The species made a rapid evolutionary leap, adapting to their new environment in just 4 million years.
Researchers have designed a new crab trap that significantly reduces turtle mortality by allowing turtles to access air during low and high tide. The modified trap has caught over 1,000 turtles in two years with only one loss, while increasing the number of crabs caught.
Scientists have found genetic switches that underlie the evolution of novel body structures, including distinctive feeding limbs called maxillipeds. In crustaceans, variations in the pattern of activity of two Hox genes correspond with anatomic changes tracing ancestral relationships and evolution.
A new study by Rockefeller University and Harvard School of Public Health found that steamed shrimp is not harmful to cholesterol levels when consumed as part of a low-fat diet. In fact, the researchers suggest that it may even have beneficial effects on heart health due to its high content of n-3 fatty acids.