Featured Creatures

These red crabs make mass migrations on Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean. It’s one of earth’s most spectacular sights, says Sir David Attenborough.

One of the most abundant creatures in the aquatic world is the tiny crustacean called a copepod. Most live as plankton in the open ocean. But they also live in the deepest ocean trenches, freshwater streams and lakes, in caves, and really anywhere there’s water — from frigid to very hot. 

Watching water striders skimming on the water is mesmerizing. People call these bugs many names based on how they move on the water: water striders, water skippers, pond skaters, water skeeters, water skippers, and even Jesus bugs (because these bugs do walk on the water). 

Climate Crisis and the American LobsterThe American lobster, an icon for our seafood in the U.S., may be in trouble because of climate change. How is this coveted epicurean pleasure threatened?Warming water appear to be particularly impacting the early life stages of American lobster. Before they're even able to move to cooler waters, Larval and juvenile lobsters, even more sensitive to water temperatures, don't stand a chance as they're too young to move to cooler waters.

Crustaceans begin life as an egg and then go through a series of larval stages, molting several times, before reaching adulthood. The first larval stage for crabs, lobsters, shrimp, barnacles, copepods, and some other crustaceans is called a nauplius. The nauplii of different species all look alike so they are hard to tell apart. These larvae live in the water column as part of the zooplankton.They’re stealthy little creatures in that they blend in with many zooplankton. Because of this, predators have a hard time seeing them.

Imagine the oceans 530 million years ago, during the Cambrian Explosion, filled with creatures alien to us today. Anomalocaris (ah-NOM-ah-LAH-kariss), from the Greek meaning “unusual shrimp”, was a major predator of those ancient seas. Fossils from the Cambrian in the Burgess Shale in Canada, and formations in China, Greenland, Australia, and Utah show that this large, ancient shrimp was widespread during this period. The “unusual shrimp”, which grew up to a six feet long 6’, is the largest animal among the Burgess Shale fossils. Scientific studies of fossil body parts and entire specimens have helped scientists understand Anomalocaris’ mode of moving and its predatory behavior.

The Kind of Luck Your Health Depends On!Horseshoe crabs come from an ancient line. Their ancestors appeared in the fossil record about 500 million years ago. And, while the horseshoe is a very auspicious symbol that is used to protect against any forms of evil, the horseshoe crab protects many of us from many diseases.Over the millennia, this group has developed a trait unique to the horseshoe crabs alive today: their copper-based blue blood contains bacteria fighting compounds that cause the blood to clot when exposed to bacteria fragments.READ MORE...

(Metacarcinus magister, formerly Cancer magister)Learn more about how many people along the West Coast were extremely bummed out about not having their beloved Dungness Crab at season opening in 2015-2016.

Sand crabs, also called mole crabs, live in the constantly shifting sands at the edge of the beach and ocean, called the swash zone. To stay put, this small crab (.75 to 2 inches) burrows backwards as fast as it can. As a wave breaks over it, the crab sticks out its feather-like antennae to catch plankton.

Arthropods grow in a very different way than you and I do. Blue crabs, like all arthropods, shed their exoskeletons to grow. For crabs, that means shedding their shells and growing a new one, a process called molting.