New write up at Deep-Sea News on Pineda J, Cho W, Starczak V, Govindarajan AF, Guzman HM, Girdhar Y, Holleman RC, Churchill J, Singh H, Ralston DK. (2016) A crab swarm at an ecological hotspot: patchiness and population density from AUV observations at a coastal, tropical seamount. PeerJ 4:e1770 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1770
Me, if I saw a crab swarm in real life. It is no secret that I find many denizens of the deep icky. Crustaceans are among them. But this video of a swarm of crabs is both beguiling and horrifying. TEEMING MASSES OF CRABS WALKING AND SWIMMING ACROSS THE SEA FLOOR. Due to a wonderful confluence of ocean physics, seamounts are biological hotspots. Currents formed by upwelling and tides can bring deep nutrients up the slopes of these underwater mountains, and is probably what attracted the red pelagic crab, Pleuroncodes planipes, to this very location. Crabs live for the NOMS. Peak crab density is 77 crabs per square meter, roughly equivalent to having 77 one-inch sized crabs scuttling across a 4-person dining room table! Depending on how much you love seafood, this would either make or break your seafood dinner party.
