PORCELLANIDAE CRABS

CLASTOTOECHUS VANDERHORSTI

MEGALOBRACHIUM POEYI

NEOPISOSOMA NEGLECTUM

PORCELLANA SAYANA

Last week, I finished up my project with Alexandra Hiller. Alex studies porcellanidae crabs. They are soooo cute and tiny--about the size of large peas. The above photos are actually direct scans of these teeny tiny creatures. What an awesome way to capture these guys in detail. She studies everything about them from their behavior to genetics. They are actually not true crabs and their morphology is a unique blend of all different crustaceans making them a super crustacean in my opinion. :)

Alex, along with her colleagues, have put together a program called CAT - computer assisted taxonomy. With this program, you can identify your specimen based on defining characteristics. My job was to re-create the ways the different characters are visualized. She had already done it, but wanted something more clear and aesthetically pleasing. Attached are a select few to show the new one and the old one. The new rendering is on the top and the old is on the bottom.