During Dive 13 of Windows to the Deep 2019, at 920 meters (3,018 feet) depth, we came upon a Chaceon crab perched above a white patch on the seafloor. A closer look revealed the patch to be a cluster of hundreds of eggs, proposed to have been deposited on the rock by a pallid sculpin.
As we watched, the crab plucking eggs from the pile with its major chelipeds (clawed legs) and eating them. Furthermore, we observed dozens of amphipods (distant crustacean relatives of the crab) clinging to and crawling over the crab’s mouthparts.
Crabs in the Chaceon genus are opportunistic feeders, meaning they will eat what they encounter, such as mollusks, polychaete worms, and even other crabs. With this observation, we can now safely add fish eggs to the menu as well!
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Video courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Windows to the Deep 2019.