Peter J. F. Davie - Crabs: A Global Natural History
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- Book:Crabs: A Global Natural History
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A richly illustrated natural history of the worlds crabs that examines their diversity, ecology, anatomy, behavior, and more
This lavishly illustrated book offers a remarkable look at the worlds crabs. More than 7,000 crab species, in 100 different families, are known today. Their unique physiology and complex behaviors have made them one of the most diverse and adaptable of all animal groups. They can thrive in the darkness of abyssal seas, on the edges of scalding hot volcanic hydrothermal vents, on sunlit coral reefs, on wave-washed rocky shores, and in tropical rain forests at the tops of mountains. They even persist in some of the harshest desert conditions. Playing a vital role in marine and coastal ecology, crabs have been identified as keystone species in habitats such as coral reefs and coastal tropical swamps.
Crabs comprises five chapters: evolutionary pathways; anatomy and physiology; ecology; reproduction, cognition, and behavior; and exploitation and conservation. Individual chapters include a variety of subtopics, each illustrated by exceptional images, and followed by numerous double full-page species profiles. Each profile has been chosen to emphasize remarkable and intriguing aspects of the life of these fascinating creatures. Some species may be familiar, but many are beyond anything you have probably seen before and will stretch your understanding of what a crab is.
Written by a world authority, Crabs offers an accessible overview of these fascinating crustaceans.
- More than 190 spectacular color photographs
- Accessible and well-organized chapters
- Full profiles on 42 iconic species from across the world
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The sea cucumber crab ( Lissocarcinus orbicularis ) is only ever found living in symbiosis with sea cucumbers. It lives on the surface of the host, near the oral tentacles and anus, where there is a plentiful food supply. It will also crawl in through the anus to hide from predators.
A GLOBAL NATURAL HISTORY
PETER J.F. DAVIE
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
CRABS ARE TRULY CHARISMATIC ANIMALS. They are thought to have first emerged as a separate group from other Crustacea during the early Jurassic, around 180 million years ago (mya), and so were witness to the reign of the dinosaurs. Evidence is strong that crabs had already left the sea and entered freshwater rivers, lakes and swamps by 135 mya, and were no doubt relished as food by the smaller saurians as they still are today by many birds and reptiles.
The spanner or red frog crab ( Ranina ranina ) buries itself in bare sandy areas, where it acts as an ambush predator (see also ).
The massive claw of this Australian southern giant crab ( Pseudocarcinus gigas ) is the largest known of any brachyuran. It can be as long as an adult human forearm.
The ringed pebble crab ( Leucosia anatum ) belongs to a diverse family, many with smooth, rounded shells. They like to bury themselves with only their snouts emerging from the bottom.
The southern kelp crab ( Taliepus nuttallii ) is a common shore crab of the tropical Pacific coast of the Americasan algae eater, varying in colour from yellow-orange to dark purple or reddish-brown.
The word crab conjures up many images, with seafood being predominant amongst them. Around 1.5 million tonnes of true crabs (see ) are consumed worldwide every year. Only about 14 species are involved in the main commercial industry, but many more are eaten by indigenous peoples and those in poorer communities. Even quite small crabs, if they are common enough, will not be spared.
While crabs have great commercial and nutritional value, they are much, much more than just seafood. Crabs play critical roles in the healthy ecology of coral reefs, mangrove swamps and shallow coastal waters. Armies of tiny crabs keep our beaches clean, either by ravenous scavenging of anything dead, or by sifting masses of sand through their mouths at every low tide, pulling out the microscopic detritus of animals and plants. And some of the larger crab species, such as the giant mud crab (Scylla serrata), can produce up to 6 million eggs per female, so it is not hard to understand how crab larvae have become a crucially important component of the plankton community upon which other marine animals depend.
Most people know very little about the rich diversity of crab shape and habit, or the crucial part they play in sustaining the wellbeing of the planet. This book draws on the latest research breakthroughs in classification, evolution, physiology, ecology and behaviour to provide new insights into the lives of crabs, to which only a few experts are normally privy presented alongside stunning images that show crabs as you have never seen them before.
Crabs, more than any other invertebrate, are firmly embedded in the human psyche. To be crabby (easily annoyed and defensive) is a universal English expression; claws and walking sideways also immediately evoke images of crabs. The origins of the medical term cancer are credited to the Greek physician Hippocrates (460370 BCE). He coined the terms carcinos (tumour) and carcinoma (malignant tumour) based on Carcinus, the giant crab of Greek mythology, having observed that the cut surface of such tumours showed the veins stretched on all sides as the crab has its feet. These terms were grouped under cancer, the Latin word for crab, by the Roman writer Aulus Cornelius Celsus (c. 25 BCEc. 50 CE) in his De Medicina.
The constellation of Cancer is one of the 12 ancient astrological signs, and likely to have first been recognized by Sumerian stargazers by around 3000 BCE. Sumerians referred to the regions abundant freshwater crabs (the Potamon species) as allul (literally, deceptive digger), and because Sumer, in southern Mesopotamia, is considered to be the cradle of modern civilization, this is probably the first name ever documented for a crab. It also seems no coincidence that the astrological month of Cancer occurs in midsummer, from 21 June to 20 July, coinciding exactly with the period when thousands of female Potamon crabs emerge from the rivers in that region. They venture into terrestrial habitats to search for protein-rich foods that will allow them to produce eggs rich in yolk, giving their developing young the best chance of survival.
If we live out our span of life on the earth without ever knowing a crab intimately, we have missed a good friendship.
CHARLES WILLIAM BEEBE (18771962)
American naturalist and marine biologist
The ancient Sumerians were probably the first to recognize the constellation known as Cancer, and the Babylonians described the Potamon species Nagar-assura as the constellation of the fourth month.
Mediterranean river crabs ( Potamon fluviatile ) are predators of tadpoles, frogs and fishes. Although known for millennia, and widely distributed through the region, this species is now under threat from pollution, habitat alteration and overfishing.
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