It's All About the Claw! - Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab

            I've been planning to catch one of these guys and take his picture, but hadn't yet had the spirit to do so.  Last evening, late, when walking our Golden Retriever, he was stopped and clearly observing something in the grass and with great caution.  Sure enough, this male fiddler crab was in our front yard.  We live along the wetlands and sometimes various creatures, crabs, turtles, etc get a little disoriented and wander in the wrong direction.  And so I protected this little fellow overnight and early this morning, set about capturing his portrait before his release.  It seems that getting him to hold still was the greatest challenge, but patience prevailed and he held fast for a good series.  This is a stack of 13 images using the Helicon FB tube to automate the focus stacking and Helicon Focus software to process the stack.  After posing for this portrait, he was harmlessly released back into the wetlands.  The Atlantic Marsh Fiddler Crab (Uca Pugnax) is a small crab that eats algae and decaying material in the mud.  They burrow holes in the mud and help aerate the wetlands, which is most beneficial for its health.  The male of the species has a very large claw and this is one of the largest I've seen.  The biggest claw and the one that gets 'waved' fastest gets the female in their world, as this is the mechanism by which they attract members of the opposite sex.  If you zoom in, you'll find a fascinating array of details, all of which serve some purpose (whiskers, sideburns, hairy legs, etc).  And by no means last in unusual features, you will see the eyes on stalks.  These stalks fold in to protect them from damage when burrowing into tight places, but otherwise they are an incredibly sensitive array of sensors for detecting predators.  These crabs spend their low-tide life on flat stretches of mud, where they quite vulnerable to overhead predation from various birds that consider these crabs a delicacy.  Accordingly their eyes have evolved to exist on stalks that afford 360 degree visibility and elevated so that they can see well above the horizon line from which danger comes.  It's how they survive!  And you wonder where they came up with some of the sci-fi creatures?  Here at home!
   

Taken in: United States / Delaware / Swanendael (show map)

Taken on: August 25, 2020

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Atlantic Marsh

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Delaware

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Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, f/7.1, 1/50 sec, 100mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Lens:	EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
Aperture:	f/7.1
Exposure Time:	0.02 sec (1/50)
Focal Length:	100mm
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 (Macintosh)
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