Observations by ethan_attridge

Seen growing in large clusters 5-10 metres away from a coniferous tree outside Massey University. I thought with 90% certainty they looked like some kind of bolete so I harvested as many as I could fit in my jacket-turned-mushroom-sack, but since there seem to be a few lookalikes out there it would be best to get second opinions. The grass underneath the clusters was stained brown (I think from the spores) and my fingers are also that colour after picking them.

This one was found with no shortage of panic by my younger sister on the bathroom wall. I went in there expecting there to be a grey house spider or vagrant spider or something but it was considerably thinner than the former and generally smaller than the latter, disproportionately to the amount of noise my sister made upon its discovery. Based on the image, the fact that I’ve seen them a fair amount in the garden, and the distribution of Steatoda grossa, I’m guessing it’s one of these lovely little guys. I deposited the individual outside so it should still be alive, but I’m not entirely sure because when I let it out of its mug and paper container, I actually couldn’t see it anywhere (I have wisely decided not to tell my sister about this particular development)

Was doing an investigation about zonation patterns and substrate preferences in P. elongatus on year 13 biology camp. They’re a species of Porcelain crab, which are closer related to squat lobsters than to true crabs (Brachyura). They show a fascinating phenomenon called carcinisation, observable across several decapod families, where very distantly related species evolve to be morphologically similar to true crabs. Anyway, my data showed that they inhabit the intertidal zone on rocky shores, seldom straying further than 3m from the water at low tide. They prefer large rocks for shelter. This is a big advantage combined with the fact that they are mostly filter feeders, and don’t have to move outside their rock as long as they’re submerged often enough to get food and not desiccate, because they don’t have to use energy chasing food, won’t run out of stationary food, and are protected from predators like seagulls by the rock they live under.