Deadliest Catch for Dummies: Part 2

After baiting our crab pots, we deployed them in the subtidal region around Brown Island and crossed our fingers hoping crabs like chicken. Turns out they do! The next morning we pulled the pots and collected a total of 24 specimens, all Metacarcinus magister or Dungeness crab. We learned how to identify gender: look at the thoracic sternum on the underside of the crab. If it has a wider, triangular shape it is female, while if it has a thinner “lighthouse” shape, it is a male. Also, you can tell whether the crab has recently molted: if the exoskeleton surface is a lighter coloring, not covered in barnacles and is softer/elastic to the touch then it has just shed its exoskeleton. We brought our samples back to the lab and set them up in a tank, but soon discovered that they are tricky little creatures, and strong too! They managed to push over the standpipe that allows water to reach a certain height in the tank. So we built a fortifying tower of bricks around the pipe and so far, it has held. As our first catch was only one species, we decided to reset our pots around the docks in hopes of catching some Pacific Rock Crab, Romaleon antennarium.

Publicado el octubre 8, 2012 02:05 TARDE por laurenkay