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Marine Biology

William & Mary

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2022

Callinectes sapidus

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Beautiful Swimmers Attack At Low Tide, David S. Johnson Jan 2022

Beautiful Swimmers Attack At Low Tide, David S. Johnson

VIMS Articles

It is low tide in a salt marsh. A blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, digs a shallow-water pit. It appears that the crab has missed the outgoing tide and is waiting for the next one. But it is not the tide the crab is waiting for. A female fiddler crab, Minuca pugnax, picks at the mud near the pit with its claws. It is eating. The blue crab waits. The fiddler crab moves closer to the pit. Suddenly, the water explodes as the blue crab seizes the fiddler crab and pulls it into the pit. Now it is the …