( Matthew Schuerman / WNYC )
For this membership drive, we'll feature a ten minute deep dive on a different species found in New York City waterways, and the ecological issues that impact them. Up next, Agata Poniatowski, outreach and engagement manager at the Billion Oyster Project, shares some facts about the Spider Crab, how waterfront access has impacted the species, and offers some solutions.
Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. For this membership drive, we are ending most shows with a short deep dive into the marine life living right here in our listening area. We have picked six unique species that you might not have expected are in our waterways. Each days, as some of you have heard over the last few days, we've been getting into some of the threats as well that are impacting each species and the waterways more broadly.
We partnered with our friends at the Billion Oyster Project, the New York City-based nonprofit that has the goal of restoring 1 billion live oysters to New York Harbor by 2035. Later this week, we'll talk about the skillet fish, not because it's asking you to cook it up, it's because it looks like a tiny frying pan. We've got a segment yet to come on the sea squirt, a very sophisticated animal that misleadingly looks like a blob. Now, we'll turn to the spider crab. Joining me with some facts about that species and to talk about how waterfront access has impacted it is Agata Poniatowski, the outreach and engagement manager at the Billion Oyster Project. Agata, thanks so much for coming on. Welcome to WNYC.
Agata Poniatowski: Hi. Thanks for having me.
Brian Lehrer: For listeners who haven't ever laid eyes on a spider crab, what do they look like?
Agata Poniatowski: They look a little bit different than what you imagine when you think of a crab. They are brown and they have these really, really long legs. It's probably what gives them the name. They are beige. They have these short eyes and they have this triangular carapace, which is that hard outer shell.
Brian Lehrer: Are they more like a spider or more like a crab?
Agata Poniatowski: Oh, that's interesting. Spiders end up becoming predators or maybe the cleanup crew of your house with any flies or mosquitoes that are living around your house. Spider crabs end up doing something similar where they are the cleanup crew of our harbor, eating a lot of the fish and dead organisms that end up in the benthic zone or that bottom layer of our harbor.
Brian Lehrer: They're slow-moving I see and have poor eyesight. Can you explain the unique way that they make up for this weakness when it comes to finding food?
Agata Poniatowski: They have really, really poor eyesight. They end up having these sensory cells at the end of each leg. As they walk along the seafloor, they can essentially taste the food that they're walking towards. It helps them find some really tasty morsels along the harbor floor.
Brian Lehrer: They like to eat what you just described as tasty morsels or algae, decaying fish, mollusks, barnacles, and starfish along the floor of New York Harbor.
Agata Poniatowski: Yes. As scavengers, they essentially will eat anything that they can find, but mainly they are searching for algae, decaying fish, and anything that could really die in the harbor. They're going to be out there trying to just clean it up for us essentially.
Brian Lehrer: Right, which sounds like it might not make either a healthy or an appetizing treat for humans if they wanted to feed on a spider crab. Are they edible by people?
Agata Poniatowski: If you really tried hard enough, but I would definitely not recommend it. As I said, they're trying to get rid of all of that dead stuff at the bottom. If you ever look at one, they have these really long dangly legs. Most of what you eat from a crab is in the claws. They have these tiny, tiny little claws. Probably not for humans.
Brian Lehrer: Maybe I could get one for my kitchen floor. Anyway.
Agata Poniatowski: [chuckles] Yes, Roomba.
Brian Lehrer: Oh, exactly. According to your group, the Billion Oyster Project, the New York Harbor species ID guide that you put out, spider crabs live in shallow, habitats or dive down deep into the water. I guess that's to get those food sources that you were just describing. I say they do something interesting when they're startled. Can you explain this defense mechanism they have?
Agata Poniatowski: Yes, absolutely. The spider crabs will be closer to the harbor floor, but when a fish or something like that will swim by, that's a predator, it'll actually lift its arms and it will just try to scare it. This is absolutely bluffing because these spider crabs are so docile. They have these claws, but they're not very strong. You can actually pick up a spider crab from New York Harbor and put it on your hand without any fear of being pinched.
What it'll actually do, it will use its legs and essentially grip onto your hand. It feels like a little crab hug. It's super, super cute. Then also spider crabs have this incredible defense where they have these hairs on their heads that look or act like Velcro. When you have a spider crab out in the harbor, especially when they're young, they'll stick random things to its head. Sometimes it's a sea squirt, sometimes it's algae.
I've even seen one use an [unintelligible 00:05:19] as a hat. You have to be tricky or careful when you're out in the field with students because if you put a spider crab in a tank with other organisms you want to observe, they might start sticking them to their head, and then you won't be able to find them in the tank.
Brian Lehrer: What a weird defense mechanism because that's what that is. This tendency to drape their bodies with marine debris and then it looks like a hat.
Agata Poniatowski: Yes, it's their way of camouflaging. It really works. Sometimes I can't find spider crabs in our tanks when we're out in the field all the time. They hide so well with this Velcro-like hairs on their heads.
Brian Lehrer: According to your group, the Billion Oyster Project, large numbers of spider crabs can be found in fairly polluted bays and estuaries, some of which we have around here, but a lot of people might not know about them because of lack of waterfront access. Can you explain that issue?
Agata Poniatowski: Yes. This is actually one of Billion Oyster Project's biggest problems. New York City has more than 520 miles of coastline, but the edges are hardened, there are piers, there are bulkheads, there's riprap. It's really inaccessible. Even if you look at Manhattan for example, how many places can you actually interact and touch the water? There is access in Queens and Brooklyn and Staten Island, but we want to make sure that there's access all across the board. It's making it very difficult for New Yorkers maybe to have experienced or had an interaction with the spider crab or any of the other organisms that were mentioned in previous shows.
Brian Lehrer: You did just refer to I believe a crab hug in one of your earlier answers. Too bad we're being deprived the opportunity for a crab hug. Seriously, how can people get involved if they want to help with waterfront access?
Agata Poniatowski: If you're interested in learning more about all these crazy organisms, you can follow us on social media. Every Friday, we have a fishy Friday series where we highlight these different organisms and show where and which kinds we've been finding all over the harbor. We're also opening up our public volunteer days starting March 15th. You could check it out on our website at bop.nyc and you can get your hands dirty and help us out on Governors Island.
Lastly, there's a variety of ways of New York City students to actually get involved with this work as well. We have trainings for teachers to get their students out in the field during their science classes all the time. It's a really, really great experience for students to get their hands dirty and get involved with the water around us.
Brian Lehrer: I guess that's part of what you do as outreach and engagement manager at the Billion Oyster Project. Let people know that they can participate in these really fun-sounding ways.
Agata Poniatowski: It's probably the best job ever.
Brian Lehrer: You get to go to Governors Island with all those folks. I can't wait to hear about how that goes. Did you give a website address? I didn't hear it.
Agata Poniatowski: Yes. The website is bop.nyc.
Brian Lehrer: Agata Poniatowski is the outreach and engagement manager at the Billion Oyster Project. Thank you for joining us today. That was so much fun.
Agata Poniatowski: Thanks for having me.
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