is this part of a crab?

[ynot]

Hey Hi Y'All,

I found this little piece in some micro matrix from Merritt Island that I got from Sacha.

Old Bones said that it looks crabby, but I am unsure. I can not think of any crab part that looks like this.

Can You shed some light on this?

All opinions are welcome and appreciated!

Thanks,

Tony

[abyssunder]

If it's a part of a crab, could be a worn manus.

[ynot]

If it's a part of a crab, could be a worn manus. F1.large.jpg

Thank You for the reply.

The piece in question does not show evidence of wear or breakage. There are 2 small holes (round) on one end and a large hole (oval) on the other end. All three holes appear to have a small reinforcement "ridge" around them. It is flat with no curvature to it.

Tony

[ynot]

Are there no other opinions on this thing?

Tony

[Auspex]

I think the thinking is that the holes with the ridges around them are "teeth" in the claw that have had their tips worn off.

[Mike from North Queensland]

Lobster tail but still not right ? I do not see part of a claw, but looks like an exoskeleton.

Mike

[ynot]

I think the thinking is that the holes with the ridges around them are "teeth" in the claw that have had their tips worn off.

If the small holes are such the "teeth" would have pointed out like a gun barrel. (They are 180 degrees from the larger hole.)

Lobster tail but still not right ? I do not see part of a claw, but looks like an exoskeleton.

Mike

I can see it being a part of an exoskeleton, and agree that it is not part of a claw.

Thanks for the replies!

Tony

[ynot]

Hey Y"all,

After consulting the "crab people" here on the forum, it has been determined that it is not part of a crab!

Does anybody have another idea what this might be?

Tony

[Auspex]

What about a bit of wave-polished branching black coral?

[ynot]

[abyssunder]

What about a bit of wave-polished branching black coral?

I think,is a very good possibility.

[ynot]

What about a bit of wave-polished branching black coral?

I think,is a very good possibility.

These comments made Me to review the piece in question, And think Y"all are spot on!!

Here are a couple of better pictures and a close up.

next post...

[ynot]

This close up picture shows what I believe is coral polyps.

Thanks for the help!!!

Tony

[Mike from North Queensland]

For comparison.

I have taken a couple of photos of some black coral from the Great Barrier Reef. This is used to make jewellery by forcing some type of coloured epoxy resin into the cracks and then polishing the surface. Red looks nice because of the contrast. Unless there is another species generically called "Black Coral" this material is not hollow but layered and when dried out cracks. The black colour is constant and the specimen in question is lighter in colour where worn.

The closest shape match to the specimen is the end of a centipede but not likely as too soft a shell.

[digit]

This close up picture shows what I believe is coral polyps.

aaab micro merit island-0012.jpg

Nope. This is a case of 'Believing is seeing.'

Your investigation lead into thinking this might be black coral has you seeing tiny coral polyps on the broken end but it is illusory. Black corals--order Antipatharia (because of the ancient believe that the skeletons, polished and made into jewelry, were effective amulets repelling sickness)--are in the same Subclass (Hexacorallia) with stony reef-building (hermatypic) corals but usually grow in bushy shapes (sometimes long "wires" or spirals). Instead of laying down a calcium carbonate (aragonite) skeleton, the individual polyps are connected and supported by a distinctive black or dark brown skeleton formed of a hard protein called antipatharin. Black corals when seen on a reef are usually anything but black as the tissue covering the skeleton and the polyps are usually bright colors of yellow, green or even reddish tones. Were this to be a piece of worn black coral (as proposed by Auspex), the coral polyps would have been located in the mysterious protuberant circular openings on your specimen. A cross sectional view of the broken end would have shown the more of a fibrous texture as demonstrated in Mike's excellent middle photo above.

My money is still on some sort of crustacean exoskeleton fragment. I find lots of exoskeleton frags in the micro-matrix I collected from Rattlesnake Creek and many have worn protuberances similar to this (which I once misinterpreted as a mandible with tooth sockets). I'm not saying for certain it is crustacean but the newer close-up photos should be enough to rule out black coral.

Not an answer to the ID but hopefully information that helps close-off paths of investigation.

Mysteries are fun--solved or otherwise.

Cheers.

-Ken

[ynot]

Nope. This is a case of 'Believing is seeing.'

Your investigation lead into thinking this might be black coral has you seeing tiny coral polyps on the broken end but it is illusory. Black corals--order Antipatharia (because of the ancient believe that the skeletons, polished and made into jewelry, were effective amulets repelling sickness)--are in the same Subclass (Hexacorallia) with stony reef-building (hermatypic) corals but usually grow in bushy shapes (sometimes long "wires" or spirals). Instead of laying down a calcium carbonate (aragonite) skeleton, the individual polyps are connected and supported by a distinctive black or dark brown skeleton formed of a hard protein called antipatharin. Black corals when seen on a reef are usually anything but black as the tissue covering the skeleton and the polyps are usually bright colors of yellow, green or even reddish tones. Were this to be a piece of worn black coral (as proposed by Auspex), the coral polyps would have been located in the mysterious protuberant circular openings on your specimen. A cross sectional view of the broken end would have shown the more of a fibrous texture as demonstrated in Mike's excellent middle photo above.

My money is still on some sort of crustacean exoskeleton fragment. I find lots of exoskeleton frags in the micro-matrix I collected from Rattlesnake Creek and many have worn protuberances similar to this (which I once misinterpreted as a mandible with tooth sockets). I'm not saying for certain it is crustacean but the newer close-up photos should be enough to rule out black coral.

Not an answer to the ID but hopefully information that helps close-off paths of investigation.

Mysteries are fun--solved or otherwise.

Cheers.

-Ken

Hey-hi Ken,

Thank You for the explanation.

When I was a kid I would visit My Grandparents in Santa Cruz. I spent some time beach combing after storms. There was this stuff that I found that looked like a segmented seaweed. The segments looked like little pillows that were attached end to end, with an occasional branching. It was always white. I think this maybe a segment of that "seaweed" where it branched. I have no idea as to what the stuff is, but am fairly sure that this is the same.

Tony

[digit]

You have very aptly described Halimeda---a calcareous macroalgae.Some reefs and beaches are covered with sand that is composed of broken segments of this macroalgae. It is a coarse sand that looks like uncooked oatmeal. Much of the rest of while calcareous sand on those picturesque beaches is composed of carbonate material scraped from corals by parrotfish which frequently vent plumes of this while buzzing over the reef--much like underwater crop dusters. I like to tell people that their favorite white sand beaches are largely composed of parrotfish poop.

Do a google image search for "Halimeda" and you'll see images that will match your memories from in Santa Cruz. Halimeda is pretty flat and two-dimensional so while your mystery specimen has that segmented connected look to it, it is not Halimeda (which is pretty brittle and crumbles). I'm still thinking exoskeleton--rather than part of a claw possibly some other jointed portion of the body. Still, just a guess.

Cheers.

-Ken