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Credit: Elizabeth Demaray
Corporate logos may adorn these plastic
hermit crab shelters, which are designed
to protect the crustaceans. Pollution
and human collection have depleted the
crabs' natural seashell homes.
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Pity the hermit crab. With pollution and human collection depleting their trademark seashell homes, the crustaceans are scrambling for protection in such places as discarded glass jars, the tops of soy sauce containers and other forms of refuse.
Fortunately, they have a friend in Elizabeth Demaray, an assistant professor of art in Camden, who seeks to create new homes for the crabs through “The Hand Up Project: Attempting to Meet the New Needs of Natural Life Forms.” The project proposes to manufacture alternative forms of housing, specifically designed for use by land hermit crabs, out of plastic.
Demaray, who holds degrees in cognitive psychology and art, uses rapid prototyping technology and AutoCAD software to design plastic shells with the help of a paleontologist and mechanical engineer. The shells are an ideal size and shape for hermit crabs, and their look is inspired by the work of Giuseppe Terrangi, an architect who worked in the late 1920s.
“These fabricated structures may be better than what nature has ever been able to provide for these animals,” Demaray said. “The new houses are lighter than regular shells, so the animal doesn’t have to spend as much energy carrying them around.”
Beachgoers in search of a trash-free beach also stand to benefit from Demaray’s work, as the crabs are known for sharing their goods. “One of the unusual aspects of hermit crabs is that they recycle their houses,” handing down their homes to smaller crabs when they’ve outgrown them, Demaray said. “A structure with physical longevity can provide shelter to many generations of hermit crabs.”
So far, the beta version of this project has been a success. Demaray presented her studies at the fourth annual International Symposium of Science and Art, held on the New Brunswick campus this summer.
The next step in this project is to create die-cast molds so that the houses can be produced. Demaray is looking into the possibility of securing corporate funding for the process that would allow a small corporate logo to be placed on each house before it is released into the wild for a land hermit crab to find.
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