For those interested in a non basketball bracket this March, I direct you to the #FiddlerCrabBracket I posted 2 years ago, memorialized in order in this Google doc
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
I'll be out of touch for a week, but will happily answer questions when I return
#FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
U is for Uca, the fiddler crabs!
A group so cool, @mrosenberg.bsky.social created an entire #FiddlerCrabBracket about their fascinating behaviors like courtship dances, fights, and tunneling!
Entire bracket details here, and ADORABLE winner below:
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
#CrabAZ 🦀🧪🦑
haha check out #FiddlerCrabBracket from last year
Why a tactical error? It was completed 1 month, ~790 posts, and ~29,000 words later.
You can find the tournament via #FiddlerCrabBracket or archived entirely through the link on the pinned post on my profile.
3/4
There actually was a #FiddlerCrabBracket made by @mrosenberg.bsky.social !
This was the winning species:
This crab, Ocypode macrocera, should have won the #FiddlerCrabBracket
Here's how this species ended its run in the #FiddlerCrabBracket
The entire hashtag of #FiddlerCrabBracket is also relevant to the #InsertAnInvert2024 theme this week: true crabs. Check out @mrosenberg.bsky.social's amazing threads, and draw your favorite fiddler! 🦀🦑
Thanks to everyone who responded with likes or reposts, indicating that at least some people were enjoying it and this wasn’t a phenomenal waste of time.
Please do not expect a sequel (by me at least). Once was more than enough.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
The entirety of the tournament has been archived in a Google Doc for posterity: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
I may try to create a neater PDF version once I’ve caught up on the rest of my life.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Let’s end with some stats about the tournament
* 30 days
* 132 species
* 131 head-to-head matches
* ~787 posts (not including replies to feedback)
* ~29,000 words (which puts it solidly into novella-length territory, if perhaps lacking much of a plot)
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
And with that we have definitively, scientifically, and completely objectively determined the very best Fiddler Crab, once and for all.
Let there be no more debates and now the entire world should be able to come together in peace and harmony without conflict.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
The completed Fiddler Crab Tournament bracket
Here is the final completed bracket
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
A waving male Uca stylifera in its victory pose. Photo from iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141419019
The winner of the Fiddler Crab Tournament is the Styled Fiddler Crab, Uca stylifera.
We appreciate its victory pose as it celebrates.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
We’ve checked the numbers, the facts, and the figures, run the computations and simulations, battened down the hatches, consulted an astrologer on the current status of Cancer, and bribed the judges.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
It’s all come down to this. It’s time to choose a winner. It’s been exactly thirty days since the tournament announcement and everyone has been waiting with bated breath.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
From the standpoint of color, Leptuca stenodactlyus leads with its beautiful combination of blue, red, white, and pink. Uca stylifera is colorful with its mix of white, yellow, orange, and purple, but it doesn’t quite measure up by this criterion.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
So how do our two finalists stack up? Let’s start with geography and range.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Uca stylifera has a ponderous wave, where it takes a step in with its claw held up in the air, punctuating the end of the step by bringing the claw part way down to a pause. It does a similar motion with the small claw.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
youtu.be/WR2hX8s5xwA?...
Male Uca stylifera from the front. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Male Uca stylifera from the back. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Our second finalist is the Styled Fiddler Crab, Uca stylifera
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Rather than simply trying to entice females to their burrows with their sexy waves, male L. stenodactylus will sometimes attempt to herd them.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Male Leptuca stenodactylus waving, view from the back. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Male Leptuca stenodactylus waving, view from the front. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Male Leptuca stenodactylus waving, view from the front. Photo from iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/153522170
Male Leptuca stenodactylus waving, view from the back. Photo from iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59841371
The waving display of L. stenodactylus starts with a slow lateral out-and-in motion of the large claw, often while taking a few steps in some direction. This is followed by a quick run in some direction, with the claw held more or less straight in the air.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Male Leptuca stenodactylus, view from the front. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Male Leptuca stenodactylus, view from the back. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Our first finalist is the Narrow-fingered Fiddler Crab*, Leptuca stenodactylus.
As beautiful as this species is, when this competition started, I would have predicted a deep run, but probably not making it all the way to the finals.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
They said it couldn’t be done, but we have made it to the Finals. Join us today when we will learn a bit about our finalists before, once and for all, determining the Best Fiddler Crab™.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Well folks, we are down to the finals, with only two competitors remaining, Leptuca stenodactylus and Uca stylifera. Tune in Monday for the exciting conclusion when we go into a bit more detail about each species as part of determining the ultimate winner.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Male Leptuca saltitanta. Photo provided by Pat Backwell
Male Uca stylifera. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Our second semifinal contest of the Final Four is Leptuca saltitanta (Energetic Fiddler Crab) vs. Uca stylifera (Styled Fiddler Crab)
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Male Leptuca stenodactylus. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Male Leptuca terpsichores. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Our first semifinal match of the Final Four is Leptuca stenodactylus (Narrow-fingered Ghost Crab) vs. Leptuca terpsichores (Dancing Fiddler Crab)
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
We have reached the Final Four! These are four tough competitors, so let’s see how they match up and determine who will make it to the finals next week.
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Fiddler Crab Tournament bracket after completion of Great Eight round
And there we have it, only four competitors remaining! Tune in tomorrow for our Final Four contests, where we will determine which pair of species will face off in the finals next week!
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
Male Tubuca typhoni. Photo from iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42842928
Male Uca stylifera. Photo provided by Pat Backwell.
Our final match of the round is between Tubuca typhoni (Typhoon Fiddler Crab) vs. Uca stylifera (Styled Fiddler Crab)
#FiddlerCrabBracket #FiddlerCrab 🦀🦑🧪
