Guernsey crustacea

Columbus crab, Planes minutus, on flotsam

This Columbus crab, Planes minutus, was given to me by Guernsey crab fisherman, Chris Marquis.

Chris found the crab on a goose barnacle, Lepas anatifera, covered buoy in the Big Russel - the passage between the islands of Herm and Sark in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

I photographed the Columbus crab on a rubber Kito sandal, size 44, I found washed up on the strand-line on Guernsey's north-east coast on 23 December 2006.

This scandal was covered in small goose barnacles.

The crab lived in the scandal in an aquarium for a number of days before the barnacles began to die. The crab is now living on a foam mat.

Columbus crabs, also known as turtle, sargassum or Gulf weed crabs, live on flotsam or under the shells of turtles in the North Atlantic and other oceans.

They arrive in Guernsey waters with the prevailing currents in the later part of the year.
On the same day Chris Marquis found this Columbus crab about twenty Columbus crabs were found on the south coast of England.

Photo taken with a Canon S80 digital camera in an underwater housing.

File No. 141206 5055
File size: 5.98 MB Jpeg

©RLLord
sealord@me.com

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