Jo Wolfe, PhD
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jopabinia.bsky.social
Jo Wolfe, PhD
@jopabinia.bsky.social
16K followers 2.9K following 15K posts
Why things evolve into crabs. Evolutionary biologist (species alive today AND fossils, and how to study them together). Canadian at UCSB and Harvard (she/her)

My science: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CKqoVjEAAAAJ&hl=en
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jopabinia.bsky.social
Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · Aug 1
Our paper on convergent evolution of land crabs is out in its final final form. The journal didn't pick my image as the cover, so I'm sharing it here because it must be seen!

academic.oup.com/sysbio/artic...

🦀🦑🧪
Circular timetree of crabs with pie slices colored by superfamily (Figure 2 in the paper). Simplified version with no text/labels. Line drawings of crabs arranged around the perimeter like a zodiac, with colors matching the superfamily pie slice. Figure by me, drawings by Harrison Mancke and Javi Luque
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
cephwarden.bsky.social
A broadclub cuttlefish (Ascarosepion latimanus) showing what I call the 'angry bull' signal to another cuttlefish. It flicks its arms from side to side as a wave of dark color flashes over them, and it releases a small puff of ink. Sadly with its back mostly turned to me. 1/2
December 9, 2025 at 10:09 AM
jopabinia.bsky.social
#Crustmas 😍
December 9, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
franzanth.bsky.social
On the ninth day of #Crustmas, my true love gave to me
Nine pear-shaped Protaegla with stubby hands
crab illustration seen from above. it's a relatively chonky teardrop-shaped crab with stubby claws and short legs, colored in mossy green brown.
December 11, 2024 at 7:05 AM
jopabinia.bsky.social
Fossil #Crustmas art - the oldest freshwater branchiopod, 410 million years ago
trigonotarbida.bsky.social Gen @trigonotarbida.bsky.social · Oct 18
Drawing from early 2023, Lepidocaris rhyniensis, a crustacean from the Rhynie chert swimming through charophyte algae #crustacean #arthropod
Lepidocaris rhyniensis, a translucent green crustacean from the rhynie chert swims through green branching charophyte algae
December 9, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
jopabinia.bsky.social
Freshwater #Crustmas drama: does the Leptodora at left scare you with its single eye? It scares Daphnia, which it preys on. Yet both are distant cousins (Branchiopoda, Cladocera) 🧪

Also, Daphnia is giving birth in this pic
An elongate transparent crustacean whose most notable features are: Limbless abdomen Single cyclops like eye at the front Basket like stabby feeding appendages https://eol.org/pages/46498369 A translucent rounded crustacean that appears to be all carapace (enveloping most of the appendages), with a distinct face and pointy posterior. It's incubating embryos and giving birth to one https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnia#/media/File%3ARodz%C4%85ca_dafnia.jpg
December 9, 2023 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
dhilrukshi.bsky.social
#crustmas
December 9, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
husky-du.bsky.social
Good morning, and to all my friends studying carcinology, I hope you're Shrimply Having a Wonderful #Crustmas Time!
A shrimp with a poorly photoshopped Santa hat and holiday cheer all about.
December 9, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
the-episiarch.bsky.social
I've been writing a lecture which is going to feature a wide range of different invertebrate taxa.
At some point, I realised that instead of trying to source photos/images for all those taxa, it'd be easier (+ more stylistically consistent) for me to just draw them all myself.
#Invertebrate #SciArt
A collage of hand-drawn images of various different invertebrate animals and protozoans
December 9, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
jopabinia.bsky.social
An (ecto)parasitic #Crustmas. This is Dolops (above), which swims around and attaches to fishes (below), but unlike its relative Argulus, which has suckers, it has hooks to hold on. Also, is bizarrely cute!
🧪🦑
Top: Dolops striata (Bouvier, 1899), preserved young (INPA 2277) removed from freshwater stingray Potamotrygon leopoldi (ANSP 197001, 440 mm maximum disk width) collected in rio Xingu ca. 54 km southeast of Altamira, 3°33'10.7"S, 51°51'22.2"W, 10 Mar 2014. Bottom: Dolops discoidalis (Bouvier, 1899), live specimens (INPA 2274) attached to large redtail catfish, Phractocephalus hemiliopterus (ANSP 198243) collected in rio Xingu channel, 3°24'54.3"S, 51°42'42.1"W, 8 Nov 2014. Photos by M. Sabaj. https://bioone.org/journals/proceedings-of-the-academy-of-natural-sciences-of-philadelphia/volume-166/issue-1/053.166.0105/Annotated-checklist-of-parasitic-and-decapod-crustaceans-from-the-middle/10.1635/053.166.0105.short
December 8, 2023 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
daverodland.bsky.social
#MolluskMonday, #Crustmas edition: scallop encrusted with acorn barnacles! Bonus cheilostome bryozoans, but don't miss the abraded barnacle base plates either. 🧪⚒️🦪
Scallop and epibionts, including barnacles and bryozoans.
December 8, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
xenomatt.bsky.social
A pair of Coleman Shrimp (Periclimenes colemani) in between the spines of a variable fire urchin.

#MarineLife #Invertebrates #Crustmas 🌿
Two shrimp on a sea urchin. The shrimp are white, with brown spots on their bodies and brown bands on their legs and claws. Both are facing the camera; one is much bigger than the other. The urchin has reddish skin, covered in white and brown banded spines with blue ends. #UnderwaterPhotography #Macro #MacroPhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #Nature
December 8, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
kelporama.bsky.social
The graceful decorator crab #Crustmas
December 8, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
xenomatt.bsky.social
#Crustmas repost
xenomatt.bsky.social Matt @xenomatt.bsky.social · Jan 21
Peacock mantis shrimp with eggs, Lembeh

#MarineLife #Invertebrate
The head and upper thorax of a peacock mantis shrimp. A red egg mass can be clearly seen.
December 8, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
kittyfisher.bsky.social
European spider crab (Maja squinado - I think!) adding some #crustmas red to the green weed
European spider crab standing up on a green weedy rock in an aquarium at Antwerp zoo
December 8, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
federgeistchen.bsky.social
Honourable mention to this isopod which was also found in the greenhouses. It is however a very common native species (Porcellio scaber) which got in and probably liked the humidity. (It was found in the coldest of the greenhouses)

#Crustmas #Isopod
A Rough Grey Isopod (Porcellio scaber) sitting on a porous volcanic rock. As it's name suggests it is uniformly grey in colour and has a rough texture.
December 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
federgeistchen.bsky.social
For Day 8 of #Crustmas, I bring you Greenhouse isopods!
Back in June, the botanical gardens in Germany hosted a BioBlitz during which I got to dig around a bit in the greenhouses.

#1 Philosciidae indet.
#2 Nagurus cristatus
#3 Reductoniscus costulatus
#4 Venezillo parvus

#Isopods #MacroPhotography
A dark brown isopod sitting on a piece of bark. It has subtle markings on its back and rather long legs and antennae. They are also really fast. I found them in the Victoria lily house in the stony flower bed right next to the pool. A very ornate isopod sitting on a piece of mulch. Unfortunately the first half is out of focus. The pereon has a yellowish base colour with a broad grey center stripe that's sort of fractal-ly and grey margins. The pleon is fully grey. The pleotelson and uropods are bright yellow. A very tiny isopod sitting on some mulch. It is off white to beige in colour. Only the pereon is visible. Each tergite has two transversal rows of little teeth-like protrusions, which get bigger and more hooked further towards the posterior An ornate "pill bug" in a white collection dish. It is similar in colour and pattern to Nagurus cristatus, except that the yellowish parts on the tergites form distinct oval shapes. Editionally, the colouring continues through the pleon and pleotelson. It is also built more compactly and more rounded.
December 8, 2025 at 6:57 PM
jopabinia.bsky.social
#Crustmas
lycomorpha.bsky.social Moths in a human suit (they/them) @lycomorpha.bsky.social · 1d
4. Atlantic lyre crab

This crab friend has a bunch of common names, mostly ending in spider crab or lyre crab, & occasionally toad crab.

We could mash them all together to make 'great North Atlantic sea spider lyre deep toad crab'… or just call it a good crab & move on.

#ArtAdventCalendar
#SciArt
December 8, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
spidermax3000.bsky.social
#macromonday #crustmas
Wood louse - order: Isopoda
(Shot near Cincinnati 7-16-23) 🦀 #photography #macrophotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #nature #animal #invertebrate #cristacean #isopod #bugsky
A wild isopod among rotting wood
December 8, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
federgeistchen.bsky.social
#Crustmas day 7 (belatedly) 🦀
I came back from a rehearsal weekend with my orchestra yesterday and I was too exhausted to post anything.

The pic I planned to send yesterday is this Xantho pilipes which has some very nice markings on its back, in my opinion

#marinelife #crab
A closeup of Xantho pilipes against black background. Its legs are fluffy (which has likely inspired the name "pilipes"). The back is white with a red marking in the middle that sort of looks like a space ship(??). The legs and claws are of an equal red with the tips being darker.
December 8, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
franzanth.bsky.social
On the eighth day of #Crustmas, my true love gave to me
Eight Petrolisthes walking among seastars in Florida
crab illustration seen from above. it's stout and robust but otherwise normal crab looking. the color is blue with some splash of bright red around the joints and the snout.
December 10, 2024 at 4:45 AM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
oh WOW! SPONGE plus SCALLOP combo! from New Caledonia #molluscmonday #spongethursday www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Scallops (Family Pectinidae)
Scallops from Anse Vata, Nouméa 98800, Nouvelle-Calédonie on September 14, 2022 at 03:34 PM by Johan Bas
www.inaturalist.org
December 8, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
menestune.bsky.social
🎶 On the 8th day of #Crustmas my true love gave to me - a crab with a cool, spiky knee 🎶

#nature #maui #christmas #crustacean #crab #love #ghostcrab #smallwonders #cool #goodmorning #aloha #christmas #nokings #photography #marinelife
Extreme close-up of a ghost crab (mostly sandy and pink colored) on a sandy beach. You can see the details of her legs and eyestalks looking alien/weird.
December 8, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
dadrummond.art
Omg #Crustmas
December 8, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
doctorzen.net
This picture has been making the rounds again, and is being misidentified again.

This is a GOOSEFISH.

This is NOT a tasselled wobbegong shark.

It’s a great pic. I get why people are very excited about it. But it’s as easy to give it the right name as the wrong one.

fullfact.org/online/tasse...
GOOSEFISH
December 8, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
dhilrukshi.bsky.social
The blue marron crayfish is a low-maintenance native pet from Western Australia. The freshwater crayfish species can range in colour from jet-black to brown, striped and red, but it is cobalt blue marron that is becoming increasingly popular.

Article: www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2...

#crustmas
A rare blue crayfish held by a human. Image: https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-10-29/blue-marron-demand-claws-to-record-high-prices/12822502 Two crayfish on grass. Left is cobalt blue, right is jet black.
December 8, 2025 at 7:29 AM