Curious about the tuna crabs? What are they and why are they here? So were we! Please welcome Linsey Sala from Scripps Institute of Oceanography and fellow paddler to teach us more. ~CP.
If you have been paddling, swimming, surfing, or beach combing with your pup you have probably noticed the periodic presence of a beautiful bright red crustacean inhabiting our local waters these last two years – the pelagic red crab. The scientific name of this crustacean is Pleuroncodes planipes. This species is well known off the west coast of Baja California, in the Gulf of CA, and the CA Current with its center of distribution off central and southern Baja CA. This red crab is unique because it can live its entire life cycle in the water column (surface to seafloor), from larvae to adulthood. It starts off as a microscopic free drifting larva living close to the surface, feeding on microscopic single celled algae called phytoplankton. As they get older and bigger, they will continue to graze on phytoplankton but can also eat small planktonic animals called zooplankton like krill and copepods.
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