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A. Christine Brown, Ph.D., chair and professor in the Department of Biology, recently published an article in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.  The article was co-authored by Joseph Sungail (M.S. Marine Sciences ’10), who served as first author; Kimbereley Alpert (Marine Biology ’08); and Juliet Maurukas (Marine Biology ’09).

The article is titled “Prey selection by Gulf of Maine green crabs (Carcinus maenas), rock crabs (Cancer irroroatus) and American lobsters (Homarus americanus): A laboratory study.”   It examines prey selection preferences among juvenile green crabs, rock crabs and American lobsters in a laboratory setting with a limited selection of prey items.

The results of the study suggest, somewhat contrary to expectations, that while the three species have different claw morphologies, they select similar prey when presented with a size range of mussels and barnacles. This overlap of resource utilization could have implications for all three species. The simplified model utilized in the lab gives a base line of non motile prey preferences in an “ideal situation.”