Fiddler Crabs

I used to be able to wake up to the sound of my fiddler crabs scuttling. I would wake up, check on them, and go get ready for school. Unfortunately, they died when we left them with the neighbors. Now, my parents won't let me get any more replacements. Arguably, they should let me keep two female fiddler crabs. This has been concluded, because I take care of them myself, they are also cheap to purchase, and they are easy to keep while on vacation. I really love fiddler crabs.

“Horseshoe crabs are some of the most successful life forms on earth.” They have been around for over 445 million years. Longer than even the pesky cockroaches. They have a blood that turns to jelly, creating a barrier between them and pathogens, keeping them safe from any diseases. But for the physical harm, they have adapted a hard shell or carapace to protect them from attacks. Horseshoe crabs also have gills as thin as the pages of a book, allowing them to breathe out of water for as long as they are wet. This is especially good for spawning. Speaking of which, they can also produce 90,000 fertile eggs a year, increasing the population. They seem unstoppable.

The physical appearance of a tarantula may vary depending on the species. Firstly, red knee tarantulas have adapted themselves to the environment they live in by building underground burrows, which protect them from warm and cold weather (Giesler). Their size may vary from 13 to 14 centimeters (Giesler), making them relatively big. They have beige hair that covers their whole abdomen and red leg joints, which gives them good camouflage (Giesler); moreover their carapace is beige (Giesler). The red knee tarantulas have 8 legs, 2 from which are used to catch preys and 6 to walk (Giesler). Males are smaller than females (Giesler). They use venom glands to kill preys by injecting poison in the body of the meal (Giesler). Secondly, the Aphonopelma Chalcodes is a spider that is very hairy (Shefferly). Males can reach the size of 5-6 cm, females the size of 5-7 cm, and they have a leg spawn of 10 cm (Shefferly). They have sexual dimorphism meaning

Maryland is known for their blue crabs, but if crabbers exploit the blue crabs’ population, Maryland’s famous blue crabs will be extinct. Blue crabs play a large economic role in Maryland as they bring in money for the state, whether it be from people going crabbing or eating crabs. With all the benefits of blue crabs in Maryland, the government has taken a stand to ensure a large blue crab population in the future.

According to Orkin Pest & Termite Control, Female spiders are bigger than the male spiders by about half their size in length.

You scratch Giant Crab 1 in the left first leg from behind, fracturing the chitin and bruising the fat!

There are many invasive species near Nature Bridge including; green crabs, sea walnuts, and Himalayan Blackberries. Invasive species pose a threat on the economy and can harm the ecosystem they invade. Invasive animals compete with native animals for resources and can decrease the diversity by killing off the animals that already live there. They also cost large amounts of money to the government.

“Limulus polyphemus, the horseshoe crab, inhabits shallow-brackish marine environments ranging from the Atlantic Ocean along the North American coastline to the Gulf coasts of the United states and from the East coast of Mexico to the Yucatan Peninsula” (Walls, Elizabeth). There are three other species of the horseshoe crab worldwide: Tachypleus tridentatus, Tachypleus gigas, and Carconoscorpinus rotundicauda that closely resemble Limulus in structure and habits, ranging from the Indian ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Asia (National Wildlife Federation).

The non-indigionous aquatic species are identified as a distinct brown or maroon, and white stripes or bands covering the head and body. Fleshy tentacles above their eyes and below the mouth; fan-like pectoral fins; long, separated dorsal spines; 13 dorsal spines; 10-11 dorsal soft rays; 3 anal spines; and 6-7 anal soft rays. An adult lionfish can grow as large as 18 inches, while juveniles may be as small as 1 inch or less. Lionfish have cycloid

Its favorite food is algae. Its predators are fish, birds, and mammals. The average clutch size is 80. They are originated from South America.

The Japanise spider crab can live anywere from 50 to 600 feet down but preferes to live at around 200 feet but goes to 60 during breeding season and there can be up to 1,500,000 eggs laid then the females carry the eggs on there backs until they hatch then the baby spider crabs are left alone to fend for them selves if they can survive they can live up to 100 years.

Finally it is also possible to distinct the gender. Their reproductive organs sit just under their pelvic fins and are fairly easy to distinguish; the male will have not one but two penis like organs called claspers. The female only possesses a slit.

The results displayed below in figure 1. depicts a food web that shows the relationship between primary producers; (coral, black pine and seaweed), filter feeders; (muscles and barnacles), primary consumers; (chiton) and secondary consumers; (starfish and whelk) within the community. Table 1. Showcases experiments 1-4 and their initial and final populations. Experiment 1. shows the removal of the green crabs. Experiment 2. Displays what would occur if all the species remained in the pool. Experiment 3. Demonstrates what would occur if All starfish were removed and crabs were added to the population. Lastly, Experiment 4. The dominant predators were removed from the population which consisted of starfish and Crabs.

All are carniverous and have four pair of walking legs, one pair of pedipalps, and one pair of chelicerae. (Spiders, W.Shear) Each chelicerae consists of a base and a fang.

More than 100 Asian shore crabs Hemigrapsus sanguineus will be collected on the 3-month study period (May to July 2014) in Manila Bay. The crabs will be purchased from fishermen in the area who use traditional gears such as surrounding net in capturing crabs. The samples then will be washed off from the dirt and debris before being immediately placed in clean cooler boxes with some water for transport which will be placed later in a deep freezer at 4°C for further analysis. The male and female sexes of