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
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
kelporama.bsky.social
As promised here's a crangon shrimp burying itself in the sand #Crustmas
December 9, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
federgeistchen.bsky.social
#Crustmas Day 9

This is one of the prettiest copepods I‘ve found. It‘s called Hersiliodes latericius and was found in coastal waters in Spain

#MarineLife #Copepods #Crustacean
A copepod against black background. It’s white/transparent with orange patterning and orange egg sacs.
December 9, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
#crustmas
echinoblog.bsky.social Chris Mah @echinoblog.bsky.social · Dec 31
MOAR elbow crab (Parthenopid) love! Lambrus nodosus! I'm guessing a reference to the "nodose" claws! MORE from my trip to Perth in February! #WesternAustralia #invertefest
December 9, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
#crustmas
echinoblog.bsky.social Chris Mah @echinoblog.bsky.social · Dec 31
A lovely Western Australian parthenopid (aka elbow crab) from the collections in Perth! #invertefest Octolasmis warwicki!
December 9, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
menestune.bsky.social
🎶On the 9th day of #Crustmas my true love gave to me - Grapsus tenuicrustatus🎶 (even though it doesn't rhyme) 🦑🦀

#nature #maui #christmas #crustacean #crab #love #black #smallwonders #cool #goodmorning #aloha #christmas #nokings #photography #eastcoastkin
Close up of a cool looking black crab with dark red legs. She's perched on some rocks just over the ocean behind. Her eyestalks are yellow, red and black.
December 9, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
A specimen of Rhinolambrus contrarius from the tropical Indo-Pacific. in Paris. #crustmas This one was quite sizeable at least a foot across or so.
crab with very large "elbow" claws, 4 legs on either side. mounted on wood. crab with very large "elbow" claws, 4 legs on either side. mounted on wood
December 9, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
SEROLID isopod with Mah for scale! Antarctic trilobite analog! #trilobitetuesday #crustmas
eyes looking at you, flat segemented crustacean with ridges along edges flat discoid segmented animal on left with face of man with glasses to right.
December 9, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
Lobster themed plate found at a flea market (a brocante') in Paris! #crustmas
red lobster molded piece on plate with mussels to side.
December 9, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
#Crustmas #trilobitetuesday photographed from Polarstern so probably Antarctic or somesuch www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Ceratoserolis meridionalis
Ceratoserolis meridionalis on March 29, 2005 at 08:31 PM by Tomas Cedhagen
www.inaturalist.org
December 9, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
#Crustmas #trilobitetuesday
andyantarctica.bsky.social Dr Andrew Mahon @andyantarctica.bsky.social · Oct 24
On a roll, so I'll keep going. The Antarctic isopod Ceratoserolis trilobitoides. Amazing animals, some quite large (~5cm or so!) found all around the Antarctic continental shelf. C. Held took this amazing photo for our team on a cruise (LMG 13-12).🦑🧪🌎🐧🇦🇶
Ceratoserolis trilobitoides, Antarctic Isopod. Photo taken by C. Held on a NSF research cruise in 2013
December 9, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
Another Ceratoserolis! #crustmas #trilobitetuesday Antarctica www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Ceratoserolis meridionalis
Ceratoserolis meridionalis on March 31, 2005 at 04:16 PM by Tomas Cedhagen
www.inaturalist.org
December 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
A stunning serolid isopod off Chile! #crustmas #trilobiteTuesday www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Family Serolidae
Serolidae from Oceà Pacífic Sud on February 27, 2022 at 07:25 PM by Mireia Querol
www.inaturalist.org
December 9, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
off the Patagonian shelf, MORE serolid isopod love! #crustmas #trilobitetuesday www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Family Serolidae
Serolidae on April 2, 2014 at 10:45 AM by Jacobo Martín. Campaña Científica 'Banco Burdwood-Tierra del Fuego', 03-04/2014, B/O ARA Puerto Deseado (CONICET...
www.inaturalist.org
December 9, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
SEROLID! from off the coast of Argentina! #crustmas #trilobiteTuesday www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Family Serolidae
Serolidae on March 30, 2014 at 04:39 PM by Jacobo Martín. Campaña Científica 'Banco Burdwood-Tierra del Fuego', 03-04/2014, B/O ARA Puerto Deseado (CONICET...
www.inaturalist.org
December 9, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
trematomus.bsky.social
Apparently there is such a thing as #trilobitetuesday (I approve), so for the 9th day of #Crustmas not one, but two Ceratoserolis trilobitoides (plus I miss days, so...)
#ceramics, #pottery, #sciart
Two trilobite like celadon glazed ceramics, one pink one blue
December 9, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
Another Serolella! #crustmas #trilobitetuesday from South Georgia www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Genus Serolella
Serolella on February 20, 2025 at 06:26 PM by Gonzalo Giribet. Serolella sp.
www.inaturalist.org
December 9, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
and more Serolella! #crustmas #trilobitetuesday www.inaturalist.org/observations...
Genus Serolella
Serolella on February 20, 2025 at 06:30 PM by Gonzalo Giribet. Serolella sp.
www.inaturalist.org
December 9, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
echinoblog.bsky.social
YIKES! BIG LITHODID crab attacks and eats these Ophiomusa brittle stars! #crustmas #echinoday youtu.be/N5Bti5i7-og?...
Windows to the Deep: A Bad Day to be a Brittle Star
YouTube video by Global Foundation For Ocean Exploration
youtu.be
December 9, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
drcraigmc.bsky.social
This is a very important scientific outreach project: Hallmark Christmas movies… but in the abyss. High-pressure romance included. Underwater and scientifically questionable. You’re welcome. Expect bioluminescent meet-cutes and emotionally unavailable octopuses.
#Trenchmas
December 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
spidermax3000.bsky.social
#crustmas
Rusty #crayfish - Faxonius rusticus
(Shot near Cincinnati 8-18-23) 🦞 #photography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #nature #animal #invertebrate #crustacean #crawfish #crawdad
A rusty crayfish (Faxonius rusticus)in the water facing the left of frame
December 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM
jopabinia.bsky.social
For #Crustmas this funky Arctic amphipod!
oceancensus.bsky.social Ocean Census @oceancensus.bsky.social · 5h
Meet Amathillopsis spinigera! 🦐 Samples from the Ocean Census #ArcticDeep workshop and a 2024 Polarstern expedition revealed this species turning up far beyond its known depths. It’s now recorded from 11–3182 m thanks to 46 new findings.

Read the paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
December 9, 2025 at 4:02 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
jopabinia.bsky.social
#Crustmas
vicky.science Vicky Stein (agentredsquirrel) @vicky.science · Oct 24
Here's a wacky guy I met on a beach in the South Pacific! Horned ghost crab. Not friendly but very accommodatingly posed for pictures. I'm now attempting to draw it but turns out: crabs have *so many* bits??
photo of a white and purple crab posed on a sandy beach, on a cloudy day. the crab has long points on it eye stalks, a slightly spiky spiny textured large left claw, a smaller but equally textured right claw, and a lot of legs.
December 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD
ichnologist.bsky.social
For #Crustmas, an artwork of mine made for a Darwin-themed art exhibit at Fernbank Museum in Atlanta GA in 2011. Titled 'Descent with Modification,' it shows the evolutionary relatedness of modern burrowing crustaceans using a branching burrow system as a cladogram. 🧪🎨🦀🦞🦐 #sciart
'Descent with Modification,' (2011), 18" X 24," colored pencil and ink on paper. Artwork is abstraction of an orange burrow system with a conical top made of rounded pellets with a circular opening at its top, connecting to a vertical shaft below; the vertical shaft then branches into five chambers, each containing a modern crustacean. The crustaceans are, from left to right: callianassid shrimp; upogebiid shrimp; ghost crab; lobster; crayfish. The burrow on the far right shows branching just before the chambers for the lobster and crayfish, symbolizing their common ancestry. The background is horizontally divided into strips that are, from top to bottom: light blue-green wavy zone; stippled light blue-green sediment; stippled dark blue-green sediment; deep blue sediment; and black at the bottom.
December 9, 2025 at 1:24 PM