Critter of the Month

We’re proud to introduce Peter Parker (or if a female, Petra Parker), a juvenile spider crab living in our touch tank at the Environmental Learning Center. He is a type of decorator crab and sometimes tries to hide by placing bits of sea shells and sand from our touch tank on his back as camouflage. He has bristles or hooks (known as setae) on his back that resemble Velcro, and in the wild, he might attach sponges, hydroids, or bits of algae as camouflage. Peter Parker’s favorite food is bait shrimp, but he’ll also eat detritus. In South Carolina, we have two species of spider crabs: (1) Libinia dubia, the longnose spider crab, with approximately six bumps down the center of its back (carapace), and (2) Libinia emarginata, the portly spider crab, with approximately nine bumps. These crabs are capable of walking both forwards and sideways and can be typically found at depths of up to 150 feet and rarely at depths of up to 400 feet. Peter Parker’s shell may grow to approximately 4 inches with a leg span of 12 inches. He recently outgrew his shell and molted, changing from a smaller tan-colored crab to a larger dark gray crab.