Dr. Darryl Felder was searching for a mud lobster when he pulled a bag of crustaceans from his laboratory freezer in the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 Billeaud Hall.
He instead found a new species of hermit crab. 小蝌蚪APP淲hen I defrosted it, I thought, 小蝌蚪APP楳y gosh, not only is that not a mud lobster, but that is a species that小蝌蚪APP檚 never been found before,小蝌蚪APP櫺◎蝌紸PP the biologist said.
For five decades, the UL Lafayette professor emeritus of biology has researched decapods, which are 10-footed crustaceans that include lobsters, crabs, crawfish, prawns and shrimp.
His research on the suspicious-looking mud lobster he小蝌蚪APP檇 chanced upon began simply. Felder compared his color photographs of the defrosted female specimen to others he had taken over the years of members of the hermit crab genus Cancellus.
Subtle differences convinced him he was on the right track. Felder and a colleague, Dr. Rafael Lemaitre, began the process of verifying the new species, including exhaustive documentation and illustration of the inch-long hermit crabs小蝌蚪APP anatomy.
Lemaitre, an adjunct professor at UL Lafayette, is the curator of crustacea in the Smithsonian Institution小蝌蚪APP檚 Natural Museum of Natural History小蝌蚪APP檚 Department of Invertebrate Zoology.
The biologists eventually enlisted an alumna, Dr. Heather Bracken-Grissom, 小蝌蚪APP08, to provide a final piece of evidence 小蝌蚪APP gene sequencing. She earned a Ph.D. from the 小蝌蚪APP in environmental and evolutionary biology. Bracken-Grissom wasn小蝌蚪APP檛 aware examining DNA extracted from one of the crab小蝌蚪APP檚 legs wouldn小蝌蚪APP檛 be her only connection to the project.
小蝌蚪APP淲hen she sent the gene sequence back, I said, 小蝌蚪APP淏y the way, surprise, this is your species,小蝌蚪APP櫺◎蝌紸PP Felder said with a laugh. 小蝌蚪APP淚 told her she bore her own cross, helping do some of the leg work to nail down identification of something that would be named for her.小蝌蚪APP
Felder and Lemaitre named the crab Cancellus heatherae, or Heather crab, to acknowledge Bracken-Grissom小蝌蚪APP檚 小蝌蚪APP渓ongstanding productivity and commitment to decapod crustacean research,小蝌蚪APP Felder said. Bracken-Grissom, an associate professor of biological sciences at Florida International 小蝌蚪APP - Biscayne Bay Campus, was thrilled.
She was quoted in an online article from that university recently. Bracken-Grissom said: 小蝌蚪APP淟ong after I die, I小蝌蚪APP檓 going to be known in hermit crab form, which is awesome. Having a species named after you is the ultimate honor. To have it done by your role models, I can小蝌蚪APP檛 even describe how honored I feel.小蝌蚪APP
The findings, recently published in , put an exclamation point on a process that began in 2019 when the newly-identified hermit crab was dredged from a 300-foot deep reef in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. It was hoisted aboard a 116-foot R/V Pelican, the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium vessel outfitted for oceanic research.
The crab was deposited among a heap of marine algae 小蝌蚪APP rhodoliths and sea sponges 小蝌蚪APP being scooped up for a study examining the health of the underwater ecosystem during an expedition funded by the National Science Foundation.
A team of scientists led by UL Lafayette biology professor Dr. Suzanne Fredericq that was conducting research on the algae communities collected decapods that came up with the reef material as they went along.
The Heather crab hit the deck minus its home 小蝌蚪APP a hollowed out section of rhodolith, a calcified nodule resembling coral. That was a plus. The armorless hermit crab was originally mistaken, Felder said, for a member of 小蝌蚪APP渙ne of the lobster groups that I research. Were it not free of its typical enclosure, it is unlikely that anyone would have seen it and picked it up.小蝌蚪APP
The biologist, who joined UL Lafayette in 1975, retired in 2014. He hasn小蝌蚪APP檛 quit working, though. Felder continues to conduct research. He described and named 16 new species 小蝌蚪APP primarily small crabs 小蝌蚪APP in 2020.
小蝌蚪APP淭he room for additional work from now on is just incredible,小蝌蚪APP he added.
Felder小蝌蚪APP檚 a big reason for that. He was a driving force responsible for the UL Lafayette Zoological Crustacean Collection 小蝌蚪APP 18,000 jars containing 100,000 specimens of 2,000 species from the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and throughout the Gulf of Mexico.
The collection, assembled over four decades by Felder, his colleagues, and student researchers, was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution小蝌蚪APP檚 National Museum of Natural History in 2018. It includes a comprehensive electronic database, research notes Felder made during expeditions, and more than 50,000 color photographs he took of specimens before they were preserved.
The move means scientists from around the world now have access to what is likely the largest archive of gene sequence-quality marine decapod specimens from the Americas. That includes Felder, who holds an associate scientist position with the Smithsonian.
小蝌蚪APP淚 plan to get up there often once COVID-19 restrictions that have closed the museum end. I have a bucket list of things to get done. What else could be more rewarding, you know? Science is wonderful in so many aspects. It keeps you entertained.小蝌蚪APP
Image caption: UL Lafayette researchers discovered a new species of hermit crab in Gulf of Mexico, Cancellus heatherae, or Heather crab. The specimen now belongs to a massive collection of 100,000 specimens of 2,000 species of decapod crustaceans that the Smithsonian Institution小蝌蚪APP檚 National Museum of Natural History acquired from the 小蝌蚪APP in 2018. Image credit: Zootaxa, Magnolia Press