i'm having trouble finding really good resources for my son who's passionate about crabs. he read "walking sideways" which was a great introduction, but i don't know where to look for more in depth material (books). he'd like to learn more about crabs in general, as well as more specifically about ghost, blue and sentinel crabs. he's 12, but is an advanced reader.

I'm not sure about hard-copy books but below is a link to an online source geared to youth. Besides having some general information, they have a list of other links he could follow up on including the ghost & blue crabs you mention.

 

Crabs @ KidsConnect

thanks! looks like there are some great links in there.

 

he says he'd also like something geared towards adults.

These look generally applicable: http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/crab/identification.html,

http://faculty.nmu.edu/ncumberl/Neil/MainFWC-website/FWCBiology.html

 

Published papers about specific crabs:

http://www.seer.furg.br/atlantica/article/download/1526/667 (Ghost)

http://museumvictoria.com.au/pages/4022/60_1_gilchrist.pdf (Hermit)

http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbzool/v19n4/v19n4a08.pdf (Hermit)

http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/projects/mfl/reports/Chass_Appendices/Section_11.16.pdf (Blue)

http://web.vims.edu/bridge/bluecrabworkshop2.pdf?svr=www (Blue)

 

Those papers require a technical English reading level, but if your son is interested enough he will be able to look up terms and if he does not know already, recommend that he read the first sentence of and skims the body of Wikipedia pages for terms he doesn't know. Good on you for putting effort into assisting your son's explorations!

Edited June 2, 201411 yr by Sato

I am sure that your son will be a great crab expert. You deserved to share the pride with your son if he did succeed one day in the future.

 

Regards,

 

Nicholas Kang

There is an enjoyable read on this subject:

Warner, William W. Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs, and the Chesapeake Bay. Boston: Little Brown, 1976.

For a description of the book's contents see http://www.amst.umd.edu/Research/cultland/annotations/warner2.htm