Comparison of the cleaning methods for the preparation of brachyuran crabs for scanning electron microscopy

Osman, Marwa; Sallam, Wafaa; Madkour, Fedekar

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2021.155120

Comparison of the cleaning methods for the preparation of brachyuran crabs for scanning electron microscopy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

10.21608/ejabf.2021.155120

Abstract

The study presents a comparison of the techniques used by researchers for cleaning carapaces of brachyuran crabs for SEM preparation. The methods were applied on the heavily encrusted spider crabs inhabiting the Suez Canal; Hyastenus hilgendorfi and Schizophrys dahlak. The techniques were judged for their effectiveness in the elimination of the different fouling materials such as mucus, detritus, and epibionts. In addition, a step for the removal of large epibionts was introduced to the cleaning protocol and tested for efficiency. Crabs’ integuments were prepared according to the two methods and SEM micrographs were taken. The study ranked one method as more effective and showed that the suggested cleaning step was quite destructive to the setal types present on the crabs’ integuments. Recommendations for the best cleaning steps for heavily fouled crabs are given.

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