Seining, Part V

So just for starters, this is what Megsie's thesis idea looked like:

Isn't it grand? I tried,
But all I got was this.

This week, more seining!

We switched goals, though- isotope analysis no longer. This time we were seining within 10 meters of Megsie's cage sites in order to determine community composition. The idea was to document all of the class sizes of the predators that can be found around her cages. We measured carapace width and length and sexed the crabs. Sometimes we couldn't identify the species, they were so small.

But, T. crenata's blue pinchers always give him away.

Two that were unidentifiable in the field. This one seems a little upset, not to humanize a research subject.

This mantis shrimp is one of my favorites because he packs quite the punch.

Peeping Tom here probably learned this little crab is a boy. We caught mostly males in the pond.

This crab missed the memo that we didn't need their claws for isotope analysis this week. He generously offered it to Sam.

Most of the day was spent seining, though at the beginning of the afternoon some of the interns went with Megsie to get more epiphyte samples. Measuring every crab took a while, so we didn't finish all 6 sites. We might have also quit when it got too cold... it has changed to winter on the Windward side. Next week, seining part VI.