Becca Pizano
June 26th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized
Hey all! I’m Becca Pizano. I’m an Animal Biology major from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi. This summer I’m studying with Dr. Pablo Munguia, an assistant professor at UTMSI. We’ll be doing behavioral studies on a possible invasive crab species, Petrolisthes armatus, aka- the Green Porcelain Crab (I say “possible” because it is debateable among the science community whether or not this species is an invasive species or native to the Gulf of Mexico). Very little has been done to study them in the Gulf of Mexio but these crabs have been found in VERY high densities (as high as 16,000 individuals per meter square) along the coast of the Eastern US and at wide salinity ranges; one of the behavioral studies we’ll be conducting is obsverving their feeding behavior at different densities to see if these flourishing numbers are adversely affecting them. We’ll also be observing their feeding behaviors at different salinities, prey numbers, and temperature levels. With regards to salinity levels, we assume they may spend less time foraging and moving around while salinity levels are set very low or very high; this assumption is based on the fact that, at these extreme levels, they may be expending much energy on osmoregulation and less on feeding and moving. Observing their preferred ranges on salinity and temperature will help understand their ability to adapt and invade areas. Wide ranges of both may be what helps them become such successful invaders.
