Friday, April 08, 2011
King Crabs Invade Antarctica, Could Jeopardize Cures for Disease
From University of Alabama at Birmingham
It’s like a scene out of a sci-fi movie – thousands, possibly millions, of king crabs are marching through icy, deep-sea waters and up the Antarctic slope.
“They are coming from the deep, somewhere between 6,000 to 9,000 feet down,” said James McClintock, Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham Endowed Professor of Polar and Marine Biology.
Shell-crushing crabs haven’t been in Antarctica, the Earth’s southernmost continent, for hundreds or thousands, if not millions, of years, McClintock said. “They have trouble regulating magnesium ions in their body fluids and get kind of drunk at low temperatures.”
Read the full article here.
Posted by Thom Canalichio on 04/08/11 at 12:33 PM
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