Fact Friday

Loxothylacus (Loxo for short), a parasitic barnacle, makes male mud crabs think they are female! The barnacle invades a crab that has recently molted. She forms reproductive sacs where the crab’s own eggs would be located. The crab is then manipulated into caring for the barnacle babies like they were its own. Learn more: http://sercblog.si.edu/?p=2585

Image Attribution: Undersea Parasite Impregnates Crabs, Male and Female. (2012, September 5). Retrieved November 19, 2015, from http://sercblog.si.edu/?p=2585

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October 20, 2023

Sea Turtle

Sea turtles can hold their breath for 4-7 hours while sleeping and resting. How do they do it? Sea turtles are reptiles; like humans, they breathe air. They cannot breathe underwater. When a sea turtle is inactive, its metabolism and heartbeat “slows down,” which decreases the amount of oxygen it uses in its blood. Sea turtles can slow their heartbeat so that it only beats once every nine minutes! For comparison, the human heart beats an average of 80 times in one minute. One breath from the surface can go a long way for these amazing animals.

Photo Credit: Ken Marks