Crab Blood Sample Video
These spider crabs, Macroregonia macrochira, were collected from a depth of 2900 meters on Pratt Seamount.
After I remove the crabs from our traps, I take them into the lab so that we can take our samples.
Crabs have an open circulatory system, which means that their blood passes through cavities, called sinuses, that are low pressure compared to the vessels in our own closed circulatory systems.
After we take a 3-milliliter blood sample, we look for any Craprellid amphipods—commensal organisms that live inside the crabs’ mouthparts.
After looking for the amphipods, we take several measurements, including carapace, or shell, length and width.
We also take a gill sample that will be used for genetic analysis to see how closely related these crabs are to other species, such as tanner and snow crabs.
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