How do we thank our citizen science volunteers for analyzing 1 year’s worth of crabs for our Chesapeake Bay Parasite Project? With parasitized crab cookies, of course.
The Chesapeake Bay Parasite Project is tracking the invasion of a parasite that can turn mud crabs into “zombie nursemaids.” The parasite is an invasive species called Loxo (short for Loxothylacus panopaei). When it infects a tiny mud crab, it hijacks the crab’s reproductive system, making it unable to produce its own young. Instead, Loxo forms an orange sac of parasite larvae on the crab’s abdomen (see the orange blobs on the crab cookies) and forces the mud crab to nurse those larvae. Even if the crab is male, the parasite makes it act like a mother crab, caring for, protecting, and eventually giving birth to the young Loxos!
Want to help us search for the parasite this year? Visit https://serc.si.edu/citizen-science/projects/chesapeake-bay-parasite-project to see how you can sign up!
(Photo by Maria Sharova. Cookies by Monaca Noble)