Motunau crab trip - who wants to go?

[aquadementia]

Hey everyone 

 

Weather and tides look good for Motunau and possibly Glen Afric this weekend. I'll be driving through from Ashburton, is anyone keen to join?

 

I've never been to Motunau so this would be an exciting exploratory trip for me.

 

 

[RJB]

Motunau is a really cool place.  A bit of a hike to get down to the beach though.   Crab concretions to find along the cliffs, Trichopectarian I think.  Also, if you can get across that river/creek there are more to be found there.  and if you do find any crab concs at Glen afrik beach, I would love to purchace them from you.  Good luck.

 

RB

[FossilDAWG]

Want to go?  Me!

Able to go?  Not me!

Good luck, and be sure to show us your finds.

 

Don

[aquadementia]

8 hours ago, RJB said:

Motunau is a really cool place.  A bit of a hike to get down to the beach though.   Crab concretions to find along the cliffs, Trichopectarian I think.  Also, if you can get across that river/creek there are more to be found there.  and if you do find any crab concs at Glen afrik beach, I would love to purchace them from you.  Good luck.

 

RB

Thanks I will be there at low tide so should be able to get across somehow

 

Does one generally whack the motunau concretions to reveal the crab? Are they quite obviously oriented?

[aquadementia]

5 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

Want to go?  Me!

Able to go?  Not me!

Good luck, and be sure to show us your finds.

 

Don

Certainly will! :-)

 

[RJB]

18 hours ago, aquadementia said:

Does one generally whack the motunau concretions to reveal the crab? Are they quite obviously oriented?

Most of what you will find at Montunau beach are baseball sized concretions that will have carapace only and they will split very easy exsposing the crab.  If you find a complete one, you will be ale to tell with the legs coming out to the edge of the conc.  Problem is, these are EXSTREAMLY hard to prep.  Very very fragile.  You need to use the 'stop and glue' teknique of prepping in order to save as much as you can, and you will still lose some crab shell.  Good luck

 

RB

[aquadementia]

Good advice, thanks!!

 

[MeargleSchmeargl]

On 9/26/2018 at 10:29 AM, FossilDAWG said:

Want to go?  Me!

Able to go?  Not me!

Good luck, and be sure to show us your finds.

 

Don

Ditto. 

[aquadementia]

Bit of a hard slog by myself yesterday. Managed one worn crab at glen afric and one worn crab at motunau and another possible crab holding concretion. I'm hoping that ring is a leg sticking out in the attached image. There are 2 more on the opposite side

[aquadementia]

[aquadementia]

cant upload any more that's a bit annoying. Will add more tomorrow then

[ynot]

10 hours ago, aquadementia said:

cant upload any more that's a bit annoying. Will add more tomorrow then

Unfortunately there is a glitch in the software.

Usually refreshing the page will let You get some more pictures loaded.

 

Nice concretion, hope there is a whole crab in it for You.

[aquadementia]

so that concretion was just loaded with random junk

 

but here are more pics and some progress ive made on the motunau concretion.

 

The claw is pretty clear but I cant id the species. Any ideas?

 

The heavily worn outlines are from glen afric and I left it there for a kid to find

[Doctor Mud]

Nice finds.

 

wish I could be there!

ill be over in February if you would like to go. I’ve been to Glen Affric many times but never tire of going back.

 

Your claw appears to belong to Metacarcinus novaezelandiae. It has the ridges like that on the under side of the claws.

[Doctor Mud]

 

Metacarcinus from This paper on Glen Affric and Motunau Crustacea.

 

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Carrie_Schweitzer/publication/238622676_Additions_to_the_records_for_decapod_Crustacea_from_Motunau_and_Glenafric_Beaches_North_Canterbury_New_Zealand/links/00463529c97cb27ae9000000/Additions-to-the-records-for-decapod-Crustacea-from-Motunau-and-Glenafric-Beaches-North-Canterbury-New-Zealand.pdf?origin=publication_detail

[aquadementia]

14 hours ago, Doctor Mud said:

Nice finds.

 

wish I could be there!

ill be over in February if you would like to go. I’ve been to Glen Affric many times but never tire of going back.

 

Your claw appears to belong to Metacarcinus novaezelandiae. It has the ridges like that on the under side of the claws.

Absolutely please let me know! PM me for my phone number.   

Thanks for the ID :-)

 

 

Edited October 8, 2018 by Fossildude19
Remove phone number from open boards

[Doctor Mud]

6 hours ago, aquadementia said:

Absolutely please let me know! PM me for my phone number.   

Thanks for the ID :-)

 

 

Will do!

What are you using for prep? I started with engravers then saved up for air scribes and a compressor. 

That claw looks like a great piece to warm up on for crab prep. I started out on a crab pebble from Glen Affric. 

[aquadementia]

5 hours ago, Doctor Mud said:

Will do!

What are you using for prep? I started with engravers then saved up for air scribes and a compressor. 

That claw looks like a great piece to warm up on for crab prep. I started out on a crab pebble from Glen Affric. 

yeah I've also started with a dremmel engraver. Has started to get a bit of a wobble but I think I've been pretty rough on it. Cheap enough to replace without much pain

 

Is there a huge difference when going to an air scribe?

[RJB]

59 minutes ago, aquadementia said:

Is there a huge difference when going to an air scribe?

HUGE difference!  Engraver to air scribe is like sword fighting with a butter knife, then getting yourself a real sword.

 

RB

[Doctor Mud]

1 hour ago, aquadementia said:

yeah I've also started with a dremmel engraver. Has started to get a bit of a wobble but I think I've been pretty rough on it. Cheap enough to replace without much pain

 

Is there a huge difference when going to an air scribe?

Oh yes!!

 

Ron put it quite nicely 

Much more control (less wobble), remove more matrix faster on larger scribes and precise work with smaller scribes like a micro jack. Paleotools who makes microjacks for precise work claim you could work on the toe bones of a mouse.....at least I think I read that on their site....

 

Starting with engravers is fine, see if you are going to get serious and then upgrade.

 

like most things I suppose, e.g. get the cheap skis and see if you like skiing.

i wouldn’t prep anything special with an engraved now though.

 

good luck!

[mamlambo]

Hi Aquadementia

 

I'd be keen to tag along next time you go on a trip - I only live about an hour away from Motunau / Glen Afric. Was at Glen Afric a few times over the holidays and got some nice crab fossils.