WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.240 Oh hey, it's your favorite thermiss rusting in an airport, 2 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:06.639 Austin found again, Ali Ward and welcome. You've managed part 3 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:09.199 two of Crabs. You're here. If you've skipped part one, 4 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:11.240 what the fuck are you doing here? Go to part one? 5 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:13.880 Part one? Go to part one. This is part two. Okay, 6 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:16.000 there's a reason we put these in order, and in 7 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.399 part one you're going to learn how a brach urine 8 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.120 true crab differs from an animurine non true crab, how 9 00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:26.280 some crabs hangout in pods, speculations about Amelia Earhart's fate, 10 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:30.120 the weird history behind Old Bay seasoning, if you should 11 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:33.439 eat the guts of a crab, huge land dwelling hermit 12 00:00:33.479 --> 00:00:36.799 crabs that could crush a skull, and what cancers and 13 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:39.320 cancers have in common, and so much more. So we're 14 00:00:39.359 --> 00:00:42.880 now back with part two to address questions from listeners 15 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:45.799 who signed up at patreon dot com slash ologies. It 16 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.719 costs one American dollar a month to belong, and you 17 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:51.840 can submit questions before we record, and I might say 18 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:54.920 your name. So thanks patrons, as well as everyone strutting 19 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:58.799 around in your ologies T shirts and such fromologiesmerch dot com, 20 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:00.880 and of course Thank you to everyone who who leaves, reviews, 21 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:04.519 and subscribes and rates the show. That helps genuinely so much, 22 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:08.040 and it's free to do. Plus I read every single review, 23 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:10.760 so I can read one, and here's one from JGO 24 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:14.599 three four nine, who wrote that, whether driving or dozing 25 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:18.040 off before bed, this podcast has saved my last fighting 26 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:21.560 brain cells from spontaneous combustion. If you read this, understand 27 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:23.480 that all of your blood, sweat and tears do not 28 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:26.000 go unnoticed. I feel very noticed and thank you for 29 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:29.239 that review this week, JG three four nine. My two 30 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:34.640 brain cells salute yours. Okay, onto Carcinology Part two, So 31 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.000 let's crack into all of your questions with a very dedicated, 32 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:43.480 dry wise and wonderful crab expert. Does he hate me? 33 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:46.879 Does he like being interviewed? Listen to the end for 34 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:49.040 his honest assessment of hanging out with me on a 35 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:52.439 Sunday morning at his workplace, the beloved Natural histor Museum 36 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:58.719 of Valley Counties Dungeon of Dungeness and other crabs with researcher, taxonomist, 37 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:22.159 crustacean husiast, and carcinologist Adam Waller. Okay, let's creep out 38 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:24.960 of our shells with this first one from patron Ali 39 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:29.000 Brown and Ali Myers. Do they have dicks crabs? 40 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:35.280 Yeah? Did you pluralize it on purpose because they had? Yeah? 41 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:36.479 Do they have more than one dick? 42 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:38.879 Yeah? So this is a this is like a thing. 43 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:45.639 Crustaceans in general tend to have paired reproductive structures. So 44 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:51.800 their male crabs have giano pods. And these are a 45 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.800 thing that you could think of as fulfilling the same 46 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:02.840 purpose as a penis. They are actually modified pleopods, two 47 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:07.759 of them, and they transfer sperm from the male into 48 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:11.280 the female's gana pores. The female has these two pores 49 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:16.039 where she can receive sperm. And yeah, if you want 50 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:18.479 to imagine, yes, Just for. 51 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:21.199 The record, Adam did not say that crabs have dicks, 52 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:23.800 because they don't have dicks, but he said, if we 53 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:28.240 want to imagine gona pods as a pair of penises, 54 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:31.719 you're incorrect, but you may do so for the sake 55 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:34.240 of simplicity or just for your own amusement. Also, if 56 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:37.039 you wish that we just had a whole episode about Dix, 57 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:40.759 we do. And philology is linked in the show notes. 58 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:44.039 It's a real study. Okay, onward, upward. Let's move on 59 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:47.439 to some more serious questions. Earl of Gramlekin wants to 60 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.520 know do they have a butthole? As long as we're 61 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:54.879 in that region of the crab, I mean, what does 62 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:55.840 crabpoo look like? 63 00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:01.879 Uh? Crab poo can be a you liquidy, That's what 64 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:05.080 I would say. Yeah, a lot of that. It depends 65 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:11.599 on the crab's diet. Okay, all replace, Olivia, are all 66 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:13.000 your patreons going to be asking? 67 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:13.439 No? 68 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:14.520 Okay, this is. 69 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:15.199 Just up top. 70 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:18.279 Okay, sorry, you know you just we need to know. 71 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:21.839 Olivia Alasin wants to know why is their tooth in 72 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:23.879 their stomach? Is that flim flame? Is there a tooth 73 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:25.920 in their stomach? This is a question I never would 74 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.319 have thought to ask, because stomach and teeth is just 75 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:33.199 a pair of nightmare words. But patron Alia Meyer's boyfriend, 76 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:36.800 paper Wasp enthusiast and Earl of gramble can have questions 77 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:40.199 about crabs and their salty pie holes and then what 78 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:41.720 lies beyond. 79 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:45.680 I have a gastric mill. It's not because they need 80 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:48.879 to chew things up, Okay, they need to break things 81 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:49.680 down mechanically. 82 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:53.000 Yeah, does their mouth collect things? It gets shoved in 83 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:54.480 there and then is it kind of like a crop 84 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:54.879 and a. 85 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:59.600 Bird similar type of function, but yeah, very different structures. 86 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:02.920 But yeah, okay, if you need to just know more 87 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.959 about this asap, you can see the twenty eleven paper 88 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:11.199 characterization of cellulose and hemicellulose digestion in land crabs with 89 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:16.439 special reference to Chicarsoitia natalis, which explains that the ossicles 90 00:05:16.600 --> 00:05:20.199 that form in the gastric mill extend into the lumen 91 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:24.399 of the stomach and are formed into three calcified kiten 92 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.040 covered teeth. And I know you're hungry for more on 93 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:31.399 crab stomach teeth and gastric mills. So, according to the 94 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:35.720 twenty nineteen paper growling from the gut co option of 95 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:39.480 the gastric mill for acoustic communication in ghost crabs. So 96 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:43.079 ghost grabs clatter their little stomach teeth in this growling 97 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:46.959 sound to scare things away ghost crabs. I'm sorry, but 98 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:50.920 that is haunting. But now on the upside, the words decapod, 99 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:54.079 gastric mill have meaning to you, and now you can 100 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:58.240 begin dates with crabs kind of have stomach teeth. How 101 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:02.439 about that janetosaur? How soft are soft shell crabs? Are 102 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:04.160 they leathery like a leatherback turtle. 103 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:11.160 So soft shell crabs are I would say softer than 104 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:16.839 a lover back turtle because those have levers pretty tough, right, 105 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:24.079 A molted crab is pretty fragile. It's very fragile. Nowhere 106 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:28.920 near as tough as leather, but maybe a similar type 107 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:32.079 of texture kind of thing going on. 108 00:06:32.839 --> 00:06:35.079 Is a soft shell crab just a recently molted one 109 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:37.639 or is it a completely it's a soft shell all 110 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:38.040 the time. 111 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:42.439 Oh yeah, so this is this is fun? How how? 112 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:43.120 Yeah? 113 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:47.360 Not a different species. Soft shell crabs are just crabs 114 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:51.879 that they are serving to you right after it's molted. 115 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:54.720 Now you're going to ask the question, how do you 116 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:59.800 have soft shell crabs? Because things only molt periodically and 117 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:02.800 it ye's really difficult to catch a crab because we 118 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:05.600 essentially all the crabs that we are caught, right. Yeah, 119 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:08.279 So they do this thing where they catch crabs and 120 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:12.120 they put them into cages and they keep them until 121 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.040 it's time to prevent the molt. Then they molt and 122 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.199 then they get turned into shop sheell crabs. 123 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:17.920 What kind of species are they? 124 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:21.720 There's several species. I think one of the more popular 125 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:24.399 ones is actually a swimming crab, so something like the 126 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:25.000 blue crab. 127 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:29.600 I had no idea. I had no idea. So yes, 128 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:33.399 if like me, you've often enjoyed like a spider roll 129 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:36.120 with that crunch and chew of kind of like a 130 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:40.279 bug like texture, you now are burdened with the knowledge 131 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:43.639 that that crab was harvested at its most vulnerable within 132 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:47.360 hours of molting. Are they like the veal of the 133 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:51.040 crab world? That's for you to grapple with philosophically. I 134 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:54.000 get it, I'm right there with you. But what about 135 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:58.959 crabs with steamy kind of shells? Patrons Merry Long's two 136 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:02.560 year old and first question askers Lizzie R. And John 137 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:06.600 wanted to know about crustacean color schemes. Why do their 138 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:10.000 shells change color when they are when they come in 139 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.240 contact with very hot. 140 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:15.839 Water denaturing of proteins I imagine. Okay, so a lot 141 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:20.439 of the coloration of crustaceans are these pigments that are 142 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:25.360 probably getting denatured as broken apart and may stop being 143 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:27.519 the thing that they are at these higher temperatures, and 144 00:08:27.639 --> 00:08:29.120 their colors will change. 145 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:32.000 So yeah, when a pigment is exposed to heat, the 146 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:35.679 pigment gets separated from a membrane and a bright color 147 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:39.200 can shine through. And for more on the shellfish particular, 148 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:40.840 so you can see the twenty twenty two paper in 149 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.840 the journal Physics Today titled why do lobsters change color 150 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:50.360 when cooked? Innovative crystallographic techniques help solve an intriguing scientific 151 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:55.639 and culinary puzzle. Also speaking of visual feasts, patrons Olivia Eliason, 152 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:59.159 Kate Monker, Naomi Jane, Matt herschel Pi Cameron, and emilyp 153 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:02.159 want to know what they can see through their cute 154 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.240 be little peepers. In their words, a lot of people 155 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:08.919 want to know about eyes, what's going on? What do 156 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:12.480 they see with those stock eyes? Kate Tims wants to 157 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:14.200 know why do they look so cute when they're cleaning 158 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:17.480 their little eyestalks? Real question? Are they cleaning or are 159 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:19.600 they just eating the stuff growing on them? Just nomin 160 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:19.960 on it? 161 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:23.240 Why can't one thing be two things it? 162 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:24.399 I'm sure it can be both. 163 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.480 Yeah, I think it can be both. There are definitely 164 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:31.279 situations where I think they're eating it, and there's probably 165 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:34.639 definitely situations where they're much more just concerned with getting 166 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:39.279 it off of their eyes. Visual systems in animals in 167 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:41.320 general are absolutely amazing. 168 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:43.559 This is adam excited and I love it. 169 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:50.240 They're complex, or these multifaceted eyes. They don't resolve things 170 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:52.360 the same way that human eyes do for sure. 171 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.320 Yeah, what are they looking at? How do they see it? 172 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.919 I don't think they resolve images as well as we. 173 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.159 So it's going to be like a lot of light 174 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:02.759 not light. 175 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:06.639 Let's take a sideway stroll through a nineteen eighty six 176 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:10.960 Journal of Comparative Physiology article titled Eyes, Eyestalks and the 177 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:14.960 Visual World of semi terrestrial Crabs, which wants you to 178 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:18.759 know that narrow fronted species have their eyes close together 179 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:24.080 on these elongated, vertically oriented eyestalks, and they see in 180 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:27.960 a narrow vertical band. But broad fronted species have their 181 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.720 eyes far apart on short eyestalks, and they don't have 182 00:10:31.879 --> 00:10:36.000 this better band of vertical resolution. So the narrow fronted 183 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.879 crab folks with the taller eyestalks are known to live 184 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:43.120 in relatively flat terrains, and it may help the critters 185 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:45.960 get better info as to depth with just a single 186 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:48.360 eye at a time. And I also figured i'd just 187 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.759 take a trip through the twenty nineteen study Parallel processing 188 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:55.679 of polarization and intensity information in fiddler crab vision from 189 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:58.840 the Journal of Scientific Advances. Okay, in this set, so yeah, 190 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:04.679 fiddler crabs process polarization and intensity information independently and in 191 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:08.879 parallel and this uses what's called a dipolatic system with 192 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:12.120 two channels of foot of receptors like some insects and 193 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.600 cephalopods have. And this works really well for fiddler crabs 194 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:18.360 because of their mud flat environment where things are like 195 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:22.200 pretty goopy and brown, but polarization information can tell them 196 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:25.240 a lot about the sky and reflections on the mud flat, 197 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:28.919 much more than just contrast. Also, in looking this up, 198 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:34.919 Google kept correcting over and over dipolatic vision and taking 199 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:38.120 me straight to pages about diplomatic missions. And I'm like, yo, 200 00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:41.759 i am not here to learn about molotov cocktails, fire bombing, 201 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:44.480 and embassy Thank you. That's for another day, but right 202 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:47.399 now I need to understand crab is stalks. Can we 203 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:50.320 move on? Is it appropriate to ask? In Nova's words, 204 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:54.279 is eating crab sustainable? Alexander wanted to know if invasive 205 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:55.559 king crabs were a thing. 206 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:58.720 Could they find the invasive king crabs and make it 207 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:00.559 ethically better for eating them? 208 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:01.000 Yeah? 209 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:04.559 That would be lovely one in it is it sustainable 210 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:09.240 to eat crabs? So Monterey Bay Aquarium has a really 211 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:13.360 nice list for sustainable fish options, so that would be 212 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:14.320 a good resource. 213 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:17.200 I think so many people obviously are like, how do 214 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:20.320 I eat them? So I asked the Monterey Bay Aquarium 215 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:22.799 I via just a search bar on their website, and 216 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.879 currently the best buys for sustainability are blue crab from 217 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:30.519 Chesapeake Bay, blue king crab from the Bearing Sea, Golden 218 00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:33.480 king crab from the Bearing Sea, and dungeness from the 219 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:36.519 Pacific is a good alternative buy. But just be aware 220 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:41.200 of seasonal concerns and these harmful algal blooms they can happen. 221 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:43.039 But of course I don't know if you're headed to 222 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.759 Russia or Norway or I guess even the UK. Now, 223 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:49.399 help eat all those invasive spiderwalk and king crabs that 224 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:51.679 were introduced in the nineteen sixties that we talked about 225 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:54.360 in part one. Also send me a gee count invite 226 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:57.240 I just I want to help out. Or maybe maybe 227 00:12:57.240 --> 00:12:59.240 you could not eat the crabs, you could adopt one 228 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:02.320 of them, kind of like a feral chihuahua. Name it Roger, 229 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:06.120 fall in love with it. Red cedar and ten Bowen's 230 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:10.320 want to no thoughts on keeping crabs as pets. Hermit 231 00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:13.279 crabs are often kept in bad conditions, but the idea 232 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.080 of a pet crab is whimsical. They say, you mentioned 233 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:17.759 coconut crabs being kept as pets. 234 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:21.399 Mm hmm. So the coconut crabs that I'm aware of 235 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:23.879 that are being kept as pets or like they're like 236 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:28.440 just running around the island and oh they're freeways. 237 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:30.799 They're like outdoor cocina grabs kind. 238 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:33.720 Of basically, yeah, they're being fed and basing to be 239 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:37.600 happy type of thing. My research focuses on crabs in 240 00:13:37.639 --> 00:13:42.559 the wild. We do very minimal work with live specimens 241 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:45.720 to do our research. Yeah, and it's when we do 242 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:48.919 something with them, they're in a nice habitat and they're 243 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:51.919 just there for a little bit. Like, we're not keeping 244 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:56.080 specimens in crabs in cactivity for a very long time. 245 00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:58.960 You're not putting little hats on them and celebrating their birthdays. 246 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:02.759 Me personally, how do you know those people you know 247 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:09.000 crab parents? Yeah, I know people who have done similar 248 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:09.639 things like that. 249 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:15.360 Yeah, and you're like to each their own kind of yeah, yeah, yeah, 250 00:14:15.399 --> 00:14:19.360 and patrons Olivia Ellison, John McHugh Lovely Bones, Sarah King, 251 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:23.000 Isabelle Newman, twenty three Skiddo and Jude Scout Campbell wanted 252 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:26.039 to know about hermit crab instincts and if you've ever 253 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:29.240 seen the David Attenborough BBC clip of hermit crabs, you 254 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:31.679 will think about it at least once a week for 255 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:34.159 the rest of your life. And in it, Sir Edinburgh 256 00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:37.600 narrates footage of hermit crabs lining up by size and 257 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:41.399 waiting for just the right grouping and moment for a 258 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:43.080 simultaneous shell swap. 259 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:48.759 They arrange themselves into an orderly queue, the biggest of 260 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:54.399 the front, smallest at the back. They're lining up with 261 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:57.840 one aim to exchange properties. 262 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:00.320 And that leaves each one with a bigger show to 263 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:03.720 grow into, and though for a moment it leaves their 264 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:08.600 soft little bit vulnerable to the roasting sun and hungry birds. 265 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.039 It's better than nine percent interest rates over thirty years 266 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.879 in a precarious job market, But how are they better 267 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.799 at finding a home without a landlord or a mortgage 268 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:20.960 than we are? So, according to the nineteen ninety study 269 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:25.360 shell exchange in Hawaiian hermit crabs, prior to a shell exchange. 270 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:28.720 One hermit crab will approach and then wrap on the 271 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:31.320 shell of another like you knock knock, and then the 272 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.080 crabs size each other up to see if their shells 273 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.279 are a better fit for the other one. And this 274 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:40.080 is called the negotiations model of behavior, as opposed to 275 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:44.399 the aggressor model, in which one crab is forcibly shell jacked. 276 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:46.879 Now you may be at ease, though I know I 277 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.679 was to learn that the negotiations model is more successful 278 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:53.799 than the aggressor model and it all just takes place 279 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:58.240 because one brave initiator approaches and drums on another shell. 280 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:01.759 And speaking of just music to your so listener, Caitlin 281 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:05.759 Morrison shares that their mom taught them that wild hermit 282 00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:09.000 crabs will emerge when you humm to them, So I 283 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:12.759 guess use that hot tip. But in terms of having 284 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:16.639 hermit crabs as pets, it's pretty specific. Their enclosure should 285 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:19.159 be between seventy two and eighty two degrees with a 286 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:23.519 relative humidity between sixty and eighty percent. And hermit crabs 287 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:27.240 in the wild they have lifespans to over a decade, 288 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:31.240 but on average they survive in captivity just a few months. 289 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:34.960 Like my childhood hermit crab rip and I'm sorry, but 290 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:37.159 where do they come from? In case you meet one 291 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:39.960 and you want to strike up a conversation. So most 292 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:44.519 hermit crabs are sourced from the Caribbean or the Florida 293 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:48.360 Keys or South America, and bad news, they are not farmed. 294 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:52.799 They're usually just captured. They're forced into not happy crabby conditions, 295 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:55.919 and if they don't get sent to pet stores across 296 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:58.960 the world, their shells might just be spray painted very 297 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:02.559 tacky colors and then hawked like souvenirs to some local 298 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:05.759 tourists with sunburns and beach braids. So if you really 299 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:09.359 want a hermit crab, you can rescue one from Craigslist 300 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:11.640 from people who are like, I'm so over this. Why 301 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:13.400 did I get the cerma crab? I have so many 302 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:15.880 regrets in life like the cermat crab. And you can 303 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.319 also find groups like the Hermit Crab Association dot com. 304 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:23.200 They're crab swappers and rescuers, so they match people looking 305 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:25.440 for crabs with people who are looking to get rid 306 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:28.079 of crabs. But what if you encounter any kind of 307 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:30.960 crab and it tries to shank you? What does one do? 308 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:35.680 So patron j Ramsbald wants to know about the epically 309 00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:40.079 relatable crab with a knife jiff, which originated with this 310 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:45.480 twenty fourteen YouTube clip titled Gangster Crab with Knife starring 311 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:48.880 a real life medium sized crab which is backing away 312 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:51.960 from the camera and it's clutching a steak knife, and 313 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:55.200 it sparked this meme called you mess with Crabo, you 314 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:57.680 get a stabo. And I wish I could tell you. 315 00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:00.799 I wish I could tell you that knife fielding crabs 316 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.039 are rare, but kind of not. They're kind of around. 317 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:06.880 There was this June twenty twenty two New York Post 318 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:11.880 headline that warned camper awakes to knife carrying killer crab 319 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.519 a tent. Lucky to be alive, he says, And the 320 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:18.160 guy said that not the crab. But this article detailed 321 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:22.039 how this man was staying on the uninhabited Comoca Island 322 00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:25.759 in Okinawa, Japan, and was woken at two am by 323 00:18:25.799 --> 00:18:29.440 a scratching sound outside his tent, and he investigated to 324 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:32.960 discover that his adversary was, yes, a giant crab and yes, 325 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:35.119 with a knife. Somethings out there. 326 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:43.039 Hey, bro, hey, bro, hey, bro, I need that knife 327 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:45.799 I'm really curious what you think you're going to do 328 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:46.079 with that. 329 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:48.920 So it's got to be the shininess, right, the metal knives, 330 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:51.960 I'm thinking No, I looked it up, and crabs have 331 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:56.799 pretty good snooters or rather these chemosensory abilities, and there 332 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:59.880 are weapons that they picked up likelih had residue of 333 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.160 meat or rather crabby favorites. So if you're on an 334 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.640 uninhabited island, get to wash your knives, watch out for 335 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:09.480 crab ostabos. But what if you are the crab? This 336 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:12.200 next question was asked by so many people, over fifty people, 337 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:13.839 so I'm just going to shout out the first time 338 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:18.720 question askers like Sam Gretz, Hannahbale, Mariah Shemel, Viauchavores, and 339 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:22.359 in Jenet Moss mccurty's words, will Earth one day just 340 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:25.319 be a big crab party with human crabs and all 341 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:29.079 the other life forms as crabs waving our big claws around? 342 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:33.000 And in first time question asker klin Iglesias words crabification 343 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:39.200 question mark, let's talk about carsonization. Okay, Adam Weaver wants 344 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:42.079 to know will I too, one day become a crab? 345 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:45.160 So many people want to know evolutionarily if it's flim 346 00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:53.720 flam that everything evolves toward crabs. Is this an appropriate question? 347 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:58.720 It's just a really difficult question, Okay, So I intellectually 348 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:02.160 have a really hard time engage on this as someone 349 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:08.960 who studies crustaceans overall that crabs are towards the end 350 00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:13.839 of the evolutionary tree of crustacea. So it's they are 351 00:20:13.880 --> 00:20:16.960 of a form that has required the most number of 352 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:21.480 changes to get there, a lot of changes to become 353 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:24.960 more crab like. There are a lot of species that 354 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:30.640 have branched into different ecological niches and do really cool 355 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:34.440 things where they just eat completely different things. So there's 356 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:36.720 a lot of separation of resources that there can be 357 00:20:36.759 --> 00:20:40.000 a lot of species like in the same area. So 358 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:44.839 I know this is probably the question that the Internet 359 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:47.319 wants to know the most about, because I have people 360 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:50.279 ask this question to me in my personal life and 361 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:53.319 I'm just like, h problematic. 362 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:57.680 So we're not necessarily all turning into crabs. It's just 363 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:01.400 a later form of evolution because it's very specialized. Or 364 00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:02.160 rather it's. 365 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:06.200 No, your listeners really need to be able to see 366 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:06.839 my face right. 367 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:08.279 Now, I know you look horrified. 368 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:19.480 Yeah, no one should worry about our evolutionary trajectory. It 369 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:23.599 would require a lot of really difficult changes for us 370 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:24.599 to become crab. 371 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:26.240 Like okay man as a bummer. 372 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:30.599 One of the reasons why crabs are so special is 373 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:35.680 that it is really easy for crustaceans in general. Arthropods 374 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:39.160 in general, and crustaceans have done a really amazing job 375 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:45.960 of it is very small evolutionary tweaks can result in 376 00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:54.000 very different morphologies and sizes and functionalities in crabs, Like 377 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:58.440 very subtle mutations will make a claw much bigger and 378 00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:02.039 have a slightly better shape for eating a particular type 379 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:05.799 of animal, right, And that's a good evolutionary accident. That 380 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:10.000 makes an advantage, and that's great, and that makes for 381 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:17.039 a new species very quickly. So other things evolving into 382 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:22.559 crabs that aren't like arphopods totally doesn't seem like what's 383 00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:28.799 going to happen. Could other arphopods converge on a crab form, Yeah, 384 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:29.720 that could make sense. 385 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:32.279 So for more on this, you can see the nineteen 386 00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:37.039 ninety seven article carconization in the Animura factor fiction Evidence 387 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:40.799 from Adult Morphology and that was published in Contributions to Zoology, 388 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:43.319 and this paper looks at the idea put forward by 389 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:49.079 early nineteen hundreds carcinologist Lancelot Alexander Boradale, who coined the 390 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:52.880 term carsonization to describe what is essentially convergent evolution. So 391 00:22:52.920 --> 00:22:56.200 that's when a strategy for survival is so fitting to 392 00:22:56.279 --> 00:23:00.519 an environment that many species just mutations persist into these 393 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.680 similar forms. They're like, that works. Every animal that has 394 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:06.519 that mutation seems to do pretty well. And this includes 395 00:23:06.680 --> 00:23:09.880 the king crab's evolution to appear more like a bracky 396 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:13.920 urine than its animurine wonky tailed relatives, or the coconut 397 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:17.319 crab losing that hermity need to live inside a snailshell 398 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:21.119 and just coming on land. And Lancelot Alexander Barndale described 399 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:24.799 this as quote the many attempts of nature to evolve 400 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:27.880 a crab. I have more terrible news though. In order 401 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:32.000