6ix Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Just working on my 2knd ever crab... I think I have an eye stalk - yeah/nah? The matrix is really soft.. I think the tip popped off the "stalk" - its not a great crab but my best so far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Is it in the right place for a the eye? I couldn't get a sense of orientation from the pics. If you look up images of tumidocarcinus you can really see clear eye "sockets" with spines on either side. The other possibility is that it is a calcerous tube from a tube worm. I found these on and around the latest crab I'm working on from the same site. The walls of the tubes tend to be thinner than crab shell and yellowish white calcite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6ix Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Sorry Dr Mud, you are right.. not very diagnostic! Here is the crabs "nose" - the eye sockets and the place in question are highlighted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 It would be very interesting to see better close up photos. If you are using a small "point and shoot" camera, try holding a glass loupe gently against the end of the lens barrel to get better detail. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CH4ShotCaller Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 It's a good lookin' piece!. I have a few with stalks, but have yet to have the lens intact. I was working on another big Pulalius yesterday, got in a hurry and stressed the concretion in a bad way. It split at a 90 degree angle that sheared to a 45 degree through the carapace and legs. I did discover it was a female. Looks like a massive restoration process in my future. Good work, keep us posted! Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. -Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Nice work 6ix. The crab is coming along nicely. Ah yes, I see now. Definitely in the right place to be an eye stalk. Like JohnJ said: take a look with a magnifying glass as it will be the only way to he sure. See if it is made of crab shell = eye stalk, or calcite which would be a worm tube. Ill take a picture if the next worm tube I come across for reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 I found this picture of the "tube worms" online. These are actually mollusks or snails that start off like a normal snail and then build a fixed tube on a hard substrate - like crab shell or rock. Hope it's an eye stalk though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Hi all, I don't know what is it, at least with those pictures. Bus I must to say that in Carpilioidea (as Tumidocarcinus is), eyestalk are very short and massive as the orbits they are small and closed. http://www.mbfossilcrabs.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6ix Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 (edited) Thanks for your replies everyone - unfortunately I have lost my macro kit so this is just with a +2 on the lens. Photographed by shaky hand under an led light - I'll try & do better tomorrow in the daylight. I'm kinda hoping its calcite as I cant prep any more without risking losing it entirely. Sorry, I didnt even hint of scale either, its about 2mm across. This is how I found it looking, and I've been able to remove the matrix very easily. It was at the bottom of low tide mark so probably very rarely got dry - would soaking in water soften up my other "pebble" ones? (cropped) Edited April 26, 2014 by 6ix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Nice looking specimen! They keep getting better and better! Following up on MBs post on eyes from Carpilioidea. Here are the eyes from Carpilius maculatus a "cousin" of Tumidocarcinus To me the structure looks very similar to the tube worm structures that I have found adhering to crabs from this locality. They are sediment filled with a thin yellowish white shell. You could check by exposing a bit more down and to the right in your cropped images. The tube should continue there. If you have a speed control I'd turn it down. But that's just my two cents! Good luck and keep the crabs coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6ix Posted April 26, 2014 Author Share Posted April 26, 2014 Ahaa, that makes sence thanks Dr. Mud - I'll have a gentle nibble around it today and post back results Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6ix Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 Okay - todays photos (better ones as in natural light) Unfortunately the top popped & disappeared into the nether when I got close to it even with the engraver on lowest.. Still not sure, seems to be getting bigger but didnt notice until I saw the photo.. Here it is with my other works in progress... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6ix Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 think I'll leave it there, try & get more detail around the bottom and let people assume its an eye... Will start chasing the claw a bit further now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 Compare yourself with some carpilioids or tumidocarcinids with preserved eyestalk: http://www.mbfossilcrabs.com/Carpilioidea.html 1 http://www.mbfossilcrabs.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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