Good Vibrations: How Fiddler Crabs Mate

Short Wave

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🗓️ 18 April 2025

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

The male European fiddler crab attracts his mate by performing a courtship dance. New research published in the Journal of Experimental Biology says that dance isn't just notable for its visuals — it's notable for its vibrations, too.
Researchers observed four different stages of the crab's courtship dance, each stage escalating the amount of seismic vibrational output. "It's 'come and find me in my underground house, ladies,'" says Beth Mortimer, a study author and biologist at the University of Oxford.

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0:00.0	Support for NPR comes from the Scy Sims Foundation since 1985, supporting advances in science, education, and the arts towards a fairer, more just, and civil society.
0:11.7	More information is available at SciSims Foundation.org.
0:16.3	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
0:21.6	Hey, shortwavers, Rachel Carlson here.
0:24.1	And Emily Kwong.
0:25.2	With our biweekly science news roundup featuring the hosts of All Things Considered.
0:29.8	And today we have Elsa Chang.
0:31.7	Hello, hello.
0:33.9	Welcome.
0:35.6	Thank you for having me.
0:36.5	Okay, tell me what I am learning about today.
0:39.1	So first, how fiddler crabs drum their mating songs into the sand.
0:43.0	It'll be so romantic.
0:44.4	And then we have a dinner for you, chicken nuggets.
0:47.6	But grown in the lab.
0:48.7	Ew?
0:49.1	Yum?
0:49.5	Yum.
0:50.4	Okay.
0:51.5	And a drug like LSD without the trip.
0:54.3	What's the point?
0:55.5	You'll see you.
	...

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