Health & Fitness
Blogger Video: Spider Crabs Scavenge in Shinnecock Bay
Some videos of spider crabs in Shinnecock Bay doing interesting things ...
I've been spending a lot of time in the field the last few weeks. One of the most common species we find in the bays is spider crabs, and I see them all the time. So when I see spider crabs, it is not typically very exciting. But this week I saw them doing some cool things.
I know that spider crabs are typically considered scavengers, but what I saw while snorkling just outside of Heady Creek in Shinnecock Bay was just insane! When I first got in the water, I spotted a very large, very creepy, and very dead bluefish. Upon further inspection, there was a spider crab, picking away at it (see video). This is not something I have seen, and while I know they will eat vegetation, detritus and carrion, I had never seen a spider crab working on something this big. That's not to say it doesn't happen, but the previous "largest" thing I saw a spider crab munching on was a dying whelk. Maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised, but I do wish that there was a large fish consuming a spider crab, since they like to eat my precious scallops.
But then, as I kept snorkling, I saw something even cooler. This spider crab, while clinging to one of my spat bags, was also clinging to a sea nettle, my assumption is to eat it. And after seeing this, reading about ctenophores found in dogfish stomachs, and a recent article in Science about bearded gobies consuming jellies, it makes me wonder how much of an "ecological dead-end" jellyfish might be. In fact, according to the Smithsonian Marine Station, spider crabs are known to consume jellies, like the one in the video.
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I know many people consider these guys a nuisance. And honestly, I am not a big fan either, since spider crabs crop and eat eelgrass, as well as juvenile bivalves. But, these little guys do some pretty interesting things. From typically scavenging, consuming vegetation, carrion and detritus, to possibly actively hunting — including on shellfish and probably jellies, maybe we need to reconsider the role of spider crabs in our coastal ecosystems. Maybe...
