Merry Crustmas! Have a metal barnacle, Semibalanus balanoides, in steel, sterling silver, and bronze. #crustmas #InverteFest #barnacle #sculpture #metal

RT @somainsect1213@twitter.com

Merry #Crustmas !

オオタルマワシ！樽状のホヤの仲間に入り込んで深海を漂う摩訶不思議な端脚類！

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/somainsect1213/status/1606647632574951426

This is one of my favorite #crayfish species in North Carolina, not because of how beautiful it is, but because of its etymology. This is the Broad River Stream Crayfish, Cambarus lenati, named after David Lenat, who worked with the NC Division of Water Quality before shifting to consulting. I had the good fortune of meeting and scheming projects with Dave before he passed - way too soon - in 2016. He was one of the most genuinely kind and curious people I have ever met. #crustmas

This is the crayfish I dug that day. It’s a gorgeous form of Cambarus reduncus, the Sickle Crayfish. Using an integrated approach, we have discovered a lot of “hidden” diversity in North Carolina and South Carolina in this group of crayfishes (Depressicambarus), which includes both secondary and primary burrowing species. Finding the animals can be the most challenging aspect of this work! 📸 Michael A. Perkins, NCWRC. #crustmas #crayfish #crustacea

Last summer, Dr. Adrian Smith joined me in the field to capture video of the excavation of an undescribed species of burrowing crayfish. Three hours of digging (we were in the middle of a dry spell), untold numbers of mosquito bites, and a wee bit of caked on mud later I got one. And Adrian’s footage of it was magical; check out the video on his AntLab YouTube channel here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rBnRKcpK8Rs&feature=youtu.be

#crustmas #crayfish #crustacea #fieldwork #curatorlife

Here’s a photo that Mike took that will always have a special place in my crayfish and worm-riddled noggin: Cambarus franklini, the South Mountains Crayfish. This was the first species that Mike, me, and our colleague TR Russ (NCWRC) teamed up to describe in 2019 (Zootaxa 4568 (3): 520-532). It’s a NC narrow endemic. This was our first description together, but will certainly not be the last! #crayfish #crustmas #25DaysofCrustmas #crustacea

Several years ago, my colleague and collaborator, Michael A. Perkins (North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission) put together a slick specimen photo setup that we have been using to capture publication-quality images of the crayfishes of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and beyond. The imaging “torch” is now being passed to me; I can only hope to do a fraction as well as Mike! 😬
Regardless, I just want to show off some of Mike’s photos.
#25DaysofCrustmas #crayfish #crustmas

Here’s the reported “fiddler crab on steroids.” Now, although not a fiddler - it’s a blue land crab, Cardisoma guanhumi - I will admit that I would be startled hearing scratching at my office door, opening it to find this not-small asymmetrically-clawed crustacean. A museum curator’s job is never dull. #crustmas #crustacea #crustaceans #crabs #collection #CollectionsCare #digitization #25daysofcrustmas #malacostraca #museumspecimen #decapoda

Here’s the reported “fiddler crab on steroids.” Now, although not a fiddler - it’s a blue land crab, Cardisoma guanhumi - I will admit that I would be startled hearing scratching at my office door, opening it to find this not-small asymmetrically-clawed crustacean. A museum curator’s job is never dull. #crustmas #crustacea #crustaceans #crabs #collection #CollectionsCare #digitization #25daysofcrustmas #malacostraca #museumspecimen

Every so often we stumble across a specimen record that makes us laugh for days. This is one of them. We recently acquired the South Carolina DNR’s Southeast Regional Taxonomic Center marine collection, and are working to integrate the metadata into our database. #crabs #crustacea #crustaceans #MuseumCollections #museum #CollectionsCare #curation #crustmas #25daysofcrustmas #malacostraca

RT @SeaSpongeCake
When you get REALLY into the #Crustmas spirit 😂

This hermit-crab-in-a-crab-claw was one of my favourite beach finds this year 🦀

I've just discovered #Crustmas and I feel like I'm home here now. Thank you, @franzanth. :crabhat: