Each winter, millions of Christmas Island red crabs mass migrate from the rainforest to the sea to lay their eggs. While the roads are closed during migration season to protect the crustaceans, a couple who live in this Australian territory still needed vehicle access to their two luxury eco-lodges. So, Chris Bray and his wife Jess attached sweeper "shoes" to their Toyota Land Cruiser tires to "gently push the crabs out of the way without harming them."

They call their invention the "crab mobile":

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The #crab mobile working a treat! The roads are thick with red crabs migrating to the coast for a refreshing dip in the #ocean. What an amazing time to be on #Christmas Island @christmasisland @parksaustralia

A post shared by Swell Lodge (@swelllodge) on Dec 29, 2019 at 7:44pm PST

(Nag on the Lake)

screenshot via Chris Bray Photography/Caters Clips Read the rest

Endless casts of land crabs have invaded a neighborhood in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Apparently heavy rains have driven the crustaceans to seek shelter in people's homes. Groceries have reported a run on butter. (OK, that last part isn't true.) Read the rest

Looking for a gift for your crab or crustacean enthusiast best friend? Amazon has you covered.

Even then, this chair is probably too ugly to be anywhere outside a children's discovery museum or aquarium.

The folks at Design Toscano must really have interesting homes!

Design Toscano Giant Red King Crab Sculptural Chair via Amazon Read the rest

Male fiddler crabs are famous for their mismatched front claws — one great big and threatening, one eensy-weensy. (I used to use this as a metaphor for the split in my SAT scores.) But what's really interesting about this lopsided look is that it seems to serve multiple purposes. The big claw can be used to attract lady crabs — wave it around and it becomes the crabby equivalent of, "Yo! Adrian!" But the big claw can also be used as a practical weapon, where two male crabs go at each other like fancy fencers with one arm behind their backs.

And the extent to which the big claw is for looks or for violence seems to vary a lot depending on the species of fiddler crab, writes scientist John Christy. Some have a lightweight claw that's better for waving at the girls, but weaksauce in a fight. Others have a heavy, dangerous claw that's difficult to use for long-distance flirting. Christy and his team are in the process of trying to figure out what selection forces leave some crabs optimized for love and others for the battlefield. In the meantime, though, they made this awesome crab fight video, set to a stirring, John Williams-esque soundtrack.

Video Link Read the rest

The hills are alive with the sound of scuttling.

This video has popped up on lots of sites already, but I kind of love it and wanted to post here. Plus, it made me curious. Where are all those crabs going? And why?

The answers, upon reflection, are rather obvious. They are going to the sea. They are going there to get laid.

Yes, it's hermit crab spring break—set to an epic classical soundtrack—as thousands upon thousands of land-dwelling crabs travel to the ocean to meet other crabs and have sex with them.

Wondrous, isn't it?

Read more: Hermit crab mating habits from the book Hermit Crabs, by Sue Fox Annual migrations and spawning of the common land hermit crab; a research paper documenting this phenomenon as it happens in Puerto Rico. Crab love looks much the same all over the world. Read the rest